Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Guggenheim

Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $102.00 price objective on the construction company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PRIM. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Primoris Services from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp began coverage on Primoris Services in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Primoris Services from $51.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Primoris Services in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $71.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Primoris Services from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Primoris Services has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $88.67.

Primoris Services Stock Performance

Shares of Primoris Services stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $78.66. 335,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 468,050. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.27 and a 200-day moving average of $63.54. Primoris Services has a 1 year low of $31.22 and a 1 year high of $84.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05 and a beta of 1.14.

Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The construction company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.20. Primoris Services had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Primoris Services will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primoris Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Primoris Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Primoris Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen C. Cook sold 4,018 shares of Primoris Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.53, for a total value of $315,533.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at $621,015.24. The trade was a 33.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Lee King sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.14, for a total value of $152,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,965,782.52. This trade represents a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,018 shares of company stock worth $1,854,974 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Primoris Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,910 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,742,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 837.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 366,516 shares of the construction company's stock worth $18,285,000 after purchasing an additional 327,412 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Primoris Services by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,959 shares of the construction company's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Primoris Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Primoris Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,708,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.82% of the company's stock.

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.