The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Stock

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) had its price target boosted by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $110.00 to $124.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the construction company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 4.83% from the company’s previous close.

GVA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.75.

Granite Construction Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NYSE GVA traded up $6.68 during trading on Monday, hitting $130.30. The stock had a trading volume of 308,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,520. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of -20.92 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Granite Construction has a 12 month low of $97.26 and a 12 month high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.54. Granite Construction had a negative net margin of 4.99% and a positive return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Construction news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $624,041.67. This trade represents a 8.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 38.8% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 20,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 43,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,065,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. Balance Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Granite Construction by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,158 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) is an infrastructure construction company that provides engineering, construction and rehabilitation services for public and private-sector clients. The company’s work supports transportation, water and other essential infrastructure projects across the United States.

Granite’s transportation activities include the construction and maintenance of highways, roads, bridges, airports, rail systems and other transit facilities. Its water-related services include the development and improvement of water treatment and distribution systems, wastewater facilities, dams, pipelines and related infrastructure.