Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $142.74 and last traded at $141.7740, with a volume of 736336 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $137.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GVA shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.76.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $3,148,016.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,569,743.72. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total transaction of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,447.36. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 35,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,042 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 21.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,428 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 2,423.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at about $229,000.

Granite Construction Company Profile

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.