Tutor Perini Posts 37.9% EPS Beat as Directors Exit $217M
Tutor Perini beat Q2 EPS by 37.9% and carries $480M in net cash, yet three directors sold $216.82M in shares in August following a July debt filing. The chairman's $197.7M exit at progressively lower
TPC's $217M Board Exit Follows July Debt Agreement
NEW YORK, September 6 —
Tutor Perini Corporation (TPC) produced a 37.9% EPS beat last quarter and sits on a net cash position of $480 million, yet three directors sold a combined $216.82 million in shares through August, each one exiting at lower prices than the last, with zero insider purchases in the 90-day window.
- Q2 2026 EPS of $1.74 beat the consensus by 37.9%, per the August 5 earnings filing
- $940M cash against $460M debt; analyst consensus target of $116.25 is 32% above the current $88.21 price
- Three directors sold $216.82M in August at prices ranging from $98.18 down to $85.57, zero insider purchases
The Cascade That Started Five Weeks After the Debt Filing
On July 6, Tutor Perini disclosed entry into a material definitive agreement and the creation of a material direct financial obligation. Five weeks later, director Sidney Feltenstein sold 184,209 shares on August 7 at $95.66, $98.18, generating approximately $17.88 million. Director Dale Anne Reiss followed on August 27 at $92.02, $92.07, collecting $1.23 million. Chairman Ronald Tutor closed the sequence on August 31, selling 2,310,000 shares at $85.57, $89.86 for approximately $197.7 million. Each seller received less per share than the one before, Tutor's exit came roughly $6, $12 below where Feltenstein opened the sequence 24 days earlier. The company, which builds highways, bridges, tunnels, mass-transit systems, and specialized facilities across its Civil, Building, and Specialty Contractors segments, had trailing twelve-month revenue of $5.95 billion, up 19.2%.
Where the Stock Stands Relative to Each Exit
At $88.21, TPC trades inside the range at which the chairman sold and roughly $7, $10 below where Feltenstein exited. The stock has not recovered to Feltenstein's floor. That placement matters because the analyst consensus of $116.25 implies the market is mispricing a company with $573 million in trailing free cash flow and a forward P/E of 14.5x on a $4.64 billion market cap. The earnings record is uneven, TPC missed by 41.3% in one of the prior four quarters before the recent two beats, which may explain some of the discount. But the gross margin of 11.5% is characteristic of large-scale public contracting where the real value is backlog conversion, not headline profitability, and a record backlog announcement in the preceding period drove the stock's run-up into August.
| Ticker | Mkt cap | Fwd P/E | 52-wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| TPC | $4.6B | 14.5x | +42.7% |
| PRIM | $4.0B | 14.3x | -35.8% |
| GVA | $5.3B | 14.9x | +10.3% |
| MYRG | $4.5B | 19.7x | +60.8% |
| ORN | $376M | 20.6x | +25.7% |
| AGX | $5.9B | 26.5x | +105.1% |
What Investors Are Watching Now
An August 14 director or officer departure filing arrived one week after Feltenstein's exit, adding another variable to an already crowded August sequence. The questions that frame the next quarter: whether backlog converts to revenue at the pace implied by the 19.2% trailing growth rate, and whether the new financial obligation disclosed in July carries terms that compress future cash generation. The specific figure to watch is free cash flow, trailing at $573 million against operating cash flow of $797 million. A significant divergence between those two numbers in Q3 would clarify whether the July obligation is already leaving a mark. Run the free Tutor Perini Corporation deep-dive →
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did directors sell $217 million in August?
Three directors sold shares between August 7-31, starting one month after the company's July 6 disclosure of a material definitive agreement creating a new financial obligation. Chairman Ronald Tutor led the sequence with a $197.7 million exit.
Did Tutor Perini beat Q2 earnings?
Tutor Perini posted Q2 2026 EPS of $1.74, beating consensus of $1.265 by 37.9%, per the August 5 earnings filing.
What is Tutor Perini's cash position?
The company holds $940M in cash against $460M in debt, for a net cash position of $480M. It also generated $573M in trailing free cash flow.
Where does the stock price stand versus analyst consensus?
At $88.21, the stock trades below the analyst consensus target of $116.25, which implies 32% upside. The current price is below where the earliest director seller exited.
What metrics should investors monitor next?
The key metric is free cash flow, trailing at $573M against $797M in operating cash flow, to determine whether the July financial obligation is already compressing cash generation.
Weeks before three Tutor Perini directors collectively sold $216.82 million in company shares at successively lower prices — from $98 in early August to $85 on August 31 — the company had disclosed a new material financial obligation in a July 6 SEC filing. The sequence sits uneasily against a 37.9% EPS beat and an analyst consensus target 32% above where the chairman just exited.