Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA – Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 287,744 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,162 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $34,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Granite Construction by 262.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,126,000 after buying an additional 361,741 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at $36,405,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 87.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after acquiring an additional 259,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 241.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 305,013 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,522,000 after acquiring an additional 215,752 shares during the last quarter.
Analyst Ratings Changes
GVA has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price objective (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Stephens began coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.00.
Granite Construction Stock Performance
Shares of GVA opened at $124.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $139.59 and its 200-day moving average is $130.22. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $89.80 and a 12 month high of $162.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.
Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Granite Construction Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction
In related news, Director John Timothy Romer purchased 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.
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.
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