22,519 Shares in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,519 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,560,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Granite Construction as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 3.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of GVA opened at $117.81 on Wednesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $97.26 and a fifty-two week high of $162.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of -27.33 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $123.99 per share, with a total value of $49,596.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $624,041.67. This trade represents a 8.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,150 shares of company stock valued at $156,636. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.