Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $149.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GVA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th.

Granite Construction Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of GVA stock traded up $1.36 on Thursday, reaching $136.01. 12,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 650,560. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.23 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.98. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $87.72 and a 1-year high of $145.00.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $3,148,016.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 114,881 shares in the company, valued at $13,569,743.72. The trade was a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,447.36. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,042. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 569.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,818 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,541,000 after purchasing an additional 483,080 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,699,000 after purchasing an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,126,000 after purchasing an additional 361,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth $36,405,000.

About Granite Construction

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.