Wasatch Advisors LP Reduces Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 32.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 449,589 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 217,526 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $53,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at about $2,314,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the first quarter valued at approximately $637,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction by 2.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 197,987 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after acquiring an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction by 4.0% during the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,993 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $160.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $137.25 and a 200-day moving average of $127.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.32. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $89.80 and a 12 month high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.25.

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.