Kyle Larkin Sells 7,314 Shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Stock

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) CEO Kyle Larkin sold 7,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $876,509.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 181,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,762,224.96. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE:GVA traded down $1.30 on Thursday, hitting $120.14. The stock had a trading volume of 374,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,825. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.71. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $69.08 and a 52-week high of $137.24.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GVA. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $175,701,000 after buying an additional 131,360 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 14.3% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,370,029 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $128,111,000 after acquiring an additional 171,904 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 569.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,818 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 4.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,221,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,179,000 after purchasing an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Granite Construction by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $97,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,979 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Company 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.