Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $142.74 and last traded at $141.7740, with a volume of 736336 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $137.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GVA. DA Davidson raised their price target on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.86 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its 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 business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other news, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total transaction of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,447.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $3,148,016.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 114,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,569,743.72. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,042. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 569.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,064,000 after buying an additional 1,139,818 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $58,126,000 after buying an additional 361,741 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 87.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after buying an additional 259,477 shares during the period.

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.