BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 19,890.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,988,954 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,969,000 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 10.07% of Granite Construction worth $200,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Granite Construction by 24.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,880,009 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $94,358,000 after buying an additional 368,574 shares during the last quarter. RidgeWorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 345.9% in the first quarter. RidgeWorth Capital Management LLC now owns 466,505 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,474,000 after buying an additional 361,881 shares during the last quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc. boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 113.5% in the first quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc. now owns 649,967 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,622,000 after buying an additional 345,592 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 85.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 746,324 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,458,000 after buying an additional 343,587 shares during the period. Finally, Falcon Point Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at $10,601,000. Institutional investors own 94.07% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (GVA) traded up 0.76% during trading on Friday, reaching $53.14. 259,025 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1-year low of $42.59 and a 1-year high of $62.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.35 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.23 and a 200-day moving average of $50.96.
Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.25. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 4.80% and a net margin of 1.61%. The business had revenue of $762.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $684.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post $1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.60%.
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Several research firms have recently weighed in on GVA. Canaccord Genuity reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Tuesday. FBR & Co dropped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Finally, BidaskClub raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $62.14.
In other news, Director James Hildebrand Roberts sold 17,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total value of $878,030.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,594 shares in the company, valued at $2,748,261.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Howard Powell sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.60, for a total transaction of $148,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,472,956.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Granite Construction
Granite Construction Incorporated is a heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer in the United States. The Company operates through three segments: Construction, Large Project Construction and Construction Materials. The Company operates across the nation, serving both public and private sector clients.
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