Strs Ohio Raises Stock Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Strs Ohio grew its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 136.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,800 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction in the first quarter worth about $318,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 4.2% in the first quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 32,272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 6.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,263 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GVA. Stephens initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.25.

Granite Construction Price Performance

GVA stock opened at $144.28 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.84. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $89.80 and a 52-week high of $162.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58 and a beta of 1.29.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.