Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has upgraded Granite Construction's stock (NYSE:GVA) from a "hold" to a "buy" rating.
• Goldman Sachs raised their price target for Granite Construction shares from $69.00 to $76.00, maintaining a "sell" rating.
• Granite Construction reported a quarterly EPS of $1.93, surpassing analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $1.13 billion.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:GVA traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.93. 754,647 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 622,779. The company has a fifty day moving average of $92.76 and a 200 day moving average of $85.31. Granite Construction has a 12 month low of $67.92 and a 12 month high of $107.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94 and a beta of 1.39.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 21.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total value of $185,814.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,726,831.44. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 216,837 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,350,000 after acquiring an additional 3,737 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Granite Construction by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the construction company's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,465,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Granite Construction by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 781 shares of the construction company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Granite Construction by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 64,952 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,897,000 after purchasing an additional 9,255 shares in the last quarter.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.