Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Reaches New 12-Month High on Insider Buying Activity

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $145.00 and last traded at $144.1210, with a volume of 11632 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $140.60.

Specifically, Director John Timothy Romer bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Timothy Romer bought 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.79 per share, with a total value of $53,171.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $343,982.54. This represents a 18.28% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GVA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.67.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1.3% during the fourth 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 period. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 4.5% in 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 period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after acquiring an additional 191 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.