Report by Thompson Research Group
TRG has maintained a bullish view of GVA in the past few years, as the company worked down its Old Risk Portfolio and executed on a low-risk consistent growth strategy. The stock is valued at ~5x EV/EBITDA, which TRG believes is overly punitive and lumps it in with Fluor and Tutor Perini. They believe this is the wrong peer set. Instead, GVA should be compared to Construction Partners and Knife River, who sell at ~10x EV/EBITDA. These three companies have vertically integrated operations (materials producers + contracting services). ROAD and KNF have consistently produced better margins than GVA, but GVA’s 2024 targets show that it can close that gap.