VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Shares in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,400 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,067,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GVA. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 15,267.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,048,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,272,280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,995,953 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Nilsine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at approximately $280,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at approximately $484,000.

Granite Construction Price Performance

NYSE GVA opened at $115.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $97.26 and a 12 month high of $162.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.94.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Timothy Romer bought 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carlos M. Hernandez purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.99 per share, with a total value of $49,596.00. Following the purchase, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GVA. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings cut Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.