Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes $5.28 Million Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 48,140 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,279,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Granite Construction as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 222.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 707 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 31.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 898 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of GVA stock opened at $123.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $69.08 and a 52 week high of $137.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.57.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 14.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GVA. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.50.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.