Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $55.00 to $61.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sell rating on the construction company’s stock.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.8 %

GVA traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.48. 124,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 499,536. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.96. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $33.74 and a 1-year high of $73.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 116.47 and a beta of 1.41.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 2.35%. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,309 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the second quarter worth approximately $745,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 4.3% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 4.5% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 65,697 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000.

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.