Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $116.74 and last traded at $115.7840, with a volume of 565527 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 33.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In other news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000.

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.