OP Asset Management Ltd Buys New Shares in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,315 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP grew its stake in Granite Construction by 569.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,818 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of 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 raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,126,000 after purchasing an additional 361,741 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth about $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 87.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,477 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GVA. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.25.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.6%

Granite Construction stock opened at $157.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 45.53 and a beta of 1.32. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $89.80 and a 12 month high of $162.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

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.