Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,575,458 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 116% from the previous session’s volume of 728,589 shares.The stock last traded at $110.2250 and had previously closed at $117.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Stephens began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.00.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,057,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GVA. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,541,000 after buying an additional 483,080 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,699,000 after acquiring an additional 469,079 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,126,000 after acquiring an additional 361,741 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 87.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,477 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.