Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Given Sell Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs reaffirmed a sell rating on Granite Construction and trimmed its price target to $139 from $141, implying about 3.2% downside from the current share price.
• Analyst opinions are mixed overall, with the consensus rating from MarketBeat still sitting at “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161, while several firms recently issued upgrades or positive coverage.
• Granite Construction reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.26 versus an expected loss and revenue of $912.5 million, up 30.4% year over year.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $139.00 target price on the construction company's stock, down from their prior target price of $141.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.22% from the stock's current price.

GVA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.00.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $143.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $141.37 and its 200 day moving average is $130.05. Granite Construction has a one year low of $89.80 and a one year high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Timothy Romer bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at about $486,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 3.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company's stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter worth about $405,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 25.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 52,374 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 10,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,160,000.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.