Expect Equity LLC Makes New Investment in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Expect Equity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 10,644 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $934,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GVA. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $328,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,344 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after acquiring an additional 12,976 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $440,000. Finally, Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at about $506,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $217,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 28,256 shares in the company, valued at $2,462,227.84. This represents a 8.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 2,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.02, for a total value of $223,255.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,384 shares in the company, valued at $10,913,447.68. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,932 shares of company stock valued at $896,979. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $82.75 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $58.23 and a 52 week high of $105.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.80.

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

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday.

About Granite Construction

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.