Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 40,539 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,408,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leuthold Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 1,591.8% during the fourth quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 45,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,550 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 1st quarter valued at $1,160,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the 1st quarter valued at $2,314,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Granite Construction by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,586 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after buying an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Granite Construction by 247.4% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 118,338 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,650,000 after buying an additional 84,277 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Timothy Romer purchased 375 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carlos M. Hernandez acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $624,041.67. The trade was a 8.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,150 shares of company stock valued at $156,636 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $124.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of -28.79 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $97.26 and a fifty-two week high of $162.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.88.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.06%.

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.