Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $123.05 and last traded at $122.82, with a volume of 108594 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $120.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GVA. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This represents a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000.

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.