Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Cuts Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,785 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 62,566 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $10,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GVA. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Granite Construction by 52.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,541,000 after buying an additional 483,080 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Granite Construction by 262.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Granite Construction by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,126,000 after buying an additional 361,741 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter worth $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 87.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,477 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GVA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $139.00 price objective (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.00.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE GVA opened at $126.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.54. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $89.80 and a 52 week high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th 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, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 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 value of $949,494.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were 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 directly owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.