Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM) Trading 4.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Primoris Services Co. (NASDAQ:PRIM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $63.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Primoris Services traded as high as $47.33 and last traded at $47.04. 71,691 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 465,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.20.

PRIM has been the topic of a number of other reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on Primoris Services from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Primoris Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Primoris Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Lee King sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total value of $101,725.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,188,839.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director David Lee King sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total transaction of $101,725.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,839.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Travis L. Stricker sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $362,720. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,040,125 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primoris Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Walleye Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 125.9% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 100,603 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 56,060 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Primoris Services in the third quarter worth about $4,091,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 17.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,632 shares of the construction company's stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 14.2% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 282,449 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 17.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 524,767 shares of the construction company's stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 78,922 shares during the last quarter. 91.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Primoris Services Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 1.19.

Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The construction company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.21. Primoris Services had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 2.21%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Primoris Services Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primoris Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Primoris Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.34%.

Primoris Services Company Profile

Primoris Services Corporation, a specialty contractor company, provides a range of specialty construction, fabrication, maintenance, replacement, and engineering services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Utilities and Energy/Renewables segments. The Utilities segment offers installation and maintenance services for new and existing natural gas distribution systems, electric utility distribution and transmission systems, and communications systems.