Brokerages Set Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) PT at $161.00

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $161.00.

Several research firms have commented on GVA. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 target price (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director John Timothy Romer purchased 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 512.8% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000.

Granite Construction Stock Up 0.3%

Granite Construction stock opened at $124.41 on Friday. Granite Construction has a twelve month low of $89.80 and a twelve month high of $162.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The firm had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 14.99%.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.