Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $8.39 Million Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 53,047 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,260,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter worth about $21,647,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $344,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the second quarter worth $227,000.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In related news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,033 shares in the company, valued at $624,041.67. This represents a 8.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,199,967. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 1,150 shares of company stock valued at $156,636 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $124.08 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.79 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid 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 yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently -12.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GVA. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.50.

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.