Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Invests $498,000 in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,600 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the first quarter worth $211,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 59,431 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 1st quarter valued at $452,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 160,462 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $12,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18,707 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 214.2% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 377 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total value of $185,814.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 18,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,726,831.44. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GVA traded down $2.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.32. The stock had a trading volume of 604,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,093. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.24. Granite Construction Incorporated has a twelve month low of $65.13 and a twelve month high of $105.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47 and a beta of 1.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The construction company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.44. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.40%. The company had revenue of $699.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.15 million. Granite Construction's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Granite Construction Profile

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.