Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Director Buys $49,596.00 in Stock

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Director Carlos Hernandez acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.99 per share, with a total value of $49,596.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,041.67. This trade represents a 8.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of GVA stock opened at $127.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $135.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -29.70 and a beta of 1.33. 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.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $175,701,000 after purchasing an additional 131,360 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 52.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 483,080 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,067,545 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,969,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 861,770 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $94,493,000 after buying an additional 94,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP raised its position in Granite Construction by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 715,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $82,475,000 after buying an additional 105,000 shares during the last quarter.

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.