Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Hits New 1-Year High After Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $145.00 and last traded at $144.1210, with a volume of 11632 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $140.60.

Specifically, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.79 per share, with a total value of $53,171.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,426 shares in the company, valued at $343,982.54. The trade was a 18.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GVA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.67.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.59.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.Granite Construction’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 14.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 52,374 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,279,000 after purchasing an additional 10,484 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 1st quarter worth $1,160,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 39.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,405 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 3,207 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter worth approximately $473,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter worth approximately $25,562,000.

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.