Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Director Buys $49,596.00 in Stock

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Director Carlos Hernandez purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $123.99 per share, with a total value of $49,596.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,033 shares in the company, valued at $624,041.67. This represents a 8.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Granite Construction stock traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $121.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 813,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,794. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $94.18 and a 52 week high of $162.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.57. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of -28.15 and a beta of 1.33.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm’s revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,407,000. Pacific Sage Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $220,000. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at $253,000. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 5,771 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KWB Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at $960,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on GVA shares. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.50.

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.