Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Hits New 52-Week High at $62.18

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.18 and last traded at $61.87, with a volume of 75778 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GVA shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on Granite Construction from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Granite Construction from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 104.68 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $933.70 million for the quarter. Granite Construction had a net margin of 0.98% and a return on equity of 14.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 750 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.21, for a total transaction of $45,907.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,423 shares in the company, valued at $454,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Louis E. Caldera sold 1,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $63,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,400. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 750 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.21, for a total transaction of $45,907.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $454,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 637.4% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 936,858 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,523,000 after purchasing an additional 809,803 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at $13,755,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,388,044 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $70,596,000 after purchasing an additional 246,154 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,554,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $3,814,000.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.