Wasatch Advisors LP Decreases Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 32.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 449,589 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 217,526 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 1.03% of Granite Construction worth $53,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GVA. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 569.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,818 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Granite Construction by 262.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,699,000 after purchasing an additional 469,079 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Granite Construction by 254.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,126,000 after purchasing an additional 361,741 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Granite Construction by 87.5% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,477 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE:GVA opened at $160.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $89.80 and a 1 year high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 14.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GVA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.25.

Granite Construction 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.