136,935 Shares in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 136,935 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,647,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Granite Construction by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stephens began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This trade represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos M. Hernandez bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,041.67. The trade was a 8.63% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $124.08 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $97.26 and a 52-week high of $162.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.79 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.95 and a 200-day moving average of $130.88. 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 issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

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

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.