SG Americas Securities LLC Takes $605,000 Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,522 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Granite Construction by 4.6% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 7.3% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,642 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 9,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.7%

GVA opened at $121.22 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $69.08 and a fifty-two week high of $124.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.81 and its 200 day moving average is $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued 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 Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on GVA shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total value of $801,221.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,977.38. The trade was a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% 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.