Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 483,080 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $167,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GVA. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 30.9% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 4.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $125.65 on Thursday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $89.80 and a 12-month high of $162.08. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GVA shares. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price objective (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.00.

Granite Construction 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.