Aigen Investment Management LP Buys 9,714 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) by 148.6%, owning 16,252 shares worth approximately $1.225 million after purchasing an additional 9,714 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Granite Construction, with Envestnet Asset Management Inc. and Invesco Ltd. increasing their holdings by 36.4% and 22.2% respectively in recent quarters.
• The company's latest earnings report showed that Granite Construction exceeded expectations with earnings of $1.93 per share, against a consensus estimate of $1.77, despite revenue slightly dipping compared to expectations.

Aigen Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 148.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,252 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 9,714 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Granite Construction were worth $1,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 27,642 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 7,091 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 12.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 652,759 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $49,218,000 after purchasing an additional 72,175 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 22.7% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 607,269 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,788,000 after purchasing an additional 112,371 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at approximately $593,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,972,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GVA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total transaction of $185,814.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 18,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,726,831.44. This trade represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:GVA traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $110.71. 429,812 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 631,082. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.18 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $93.95 and its 200-day moving average is $85.76. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $111.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.16. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 21.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.99%.

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.