Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.25.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of GVA opened at $160.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.90. Granite Construction has a 52-week low of $89.80 and a 52-week high of $162.08. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.32. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $175,701,000 after purchasing an additional 131,360 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,541,000 after purchasing an additional 483,080 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP boosted its position in Granite Construction by 569.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,818 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Granite Construction by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,067,545 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,969,000 after purchasing an additional 4,327 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Granite Construction by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 861,770 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $94,493,000 after buying an additional 94,902 shares during the last quarter.

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.