Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 13,574 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 34.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,636 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,574 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $5,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter worth $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 21.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after buying an additional 29,428 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 64.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the second quarter worth about $226,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

GVA stock opened at $134.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $124.37 and its 200 day moving average is $113.26. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $69.08 and a 52 week high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 4.36%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

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.