Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $136.79 and last traded at $135.5150, with a volume of 65960 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GVA. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is currently 14.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the sale, the director owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. The trade was a 42.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 569.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,818 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,699,000 after acquiring an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% in the fourth 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 acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter.

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.