Caxton Associates LP Acquires Shares of 9,315 Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 9,315 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth about $545,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,154,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 26,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,852 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,855,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth $61,046,000.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE:GVA opened at $82.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.88 and its 200-day moving average is $85.84. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1-year low of $58.23 and a 1-year high of $105.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33 and a beta of 1.33.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The construction company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $699.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.15 million. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total transaction of $165,138.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,131,914. This trade represents a 12.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 2,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.02, for a total transaction of $223,255.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,913,447.68. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,932 shares of company stock valued at $896,979. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.