Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on GVA. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $133.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.70 and a 200-day moving average of $113.44. Granite Construction has a 12 month low of $69.08 and a 12 month high of $137.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56 and a beta of 1.30.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GVA. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Granite Construction by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.6% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 7.3% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,642 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.4% in the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 4.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 120 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.