Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $125.02 and last traded at $123.28, with a volume of 18939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

Granite Construction Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $116.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.73. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.74 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period.

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.