Wall Street Zen Downgrades Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Construction from buy to hold, adding to a mixed analyst picture that still leaves the stock with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $161 average target price.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.26 beating expectations and revenue of $912.47 million topping estimates, while revenue rose 30.4% year over year.
• Recent insider and institutional activity was mixed: a director bought shares, an SVP sold shares, and several hedge funds and asset managers increased their stakes in the stock.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $139.00 price objective (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.00.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:GVA opened at $124.41 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.29. Granite Construction has a fifty-two week low of $89.80 and a fifty-two week high of $162.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.22.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GVA. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 9,038 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Granite Construction by 21.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $12,732,000 after purchasing an additional 29,428 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 2,423.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $8,405,000 after purchasing an additional 86,320 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at about $229,000.

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.

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