SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,522 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Granite Construction by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 9,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 4.6% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 31.5% in 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 during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GVA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Granite Construction has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $121.22 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $69.08 and a 1 year high of $124.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $113.81 and its 200-day moving average is $107.19. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93 and a beta of 1.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This represents a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.