Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $158.50 According to Brokerages

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several research firms recently commented on GVA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Granite Construction Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $119.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.80 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.35. Granite Construction has a fifty-two week low of $97.26 and a fifty-two week high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $624,041.67. This trade represents a 8.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hill City Capital LP bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at about $175,508,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter worth about $1,160,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,104,000. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,424,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 229.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 9,140 shares during the period.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated is a civil infrastructure contractor headquartered in Watsonville, California. Founded in 1922, the company provides construction and infrastructure services to public agencies and private-sector customers across the United States.

Granite’s primary activities include the construction and rehabilitation of highways, roads, bridges, airports, rail systems, and other transportation infrastructure. The company also works on water and wastewater facilities, dams, utility systems, and related heavy-civil projects.