Boothbay Fund Management LLC Has $20.60 Million Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management increased its Granite Construction stake by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holding to 178,557 shares worth about $20.6 million.
• Granite Construction reported a strong quarterly beat, posting $0.26 EPS versus expectations for a loss and generating $912.5 million in revenue, up 30.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, while insider trading activity was mixed, with a director buying shares and an SVP selling a large block.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,557 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,226 shares during the period. Granite Construction comprises approximately 0.3% of Boothbay Fund Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned 0.41% of Granite Construction worth $20,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Granite Construction by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company's stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Granite Construction by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Granite Construction by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,224 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Granite Construction by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,031 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its position in Granite Construction by 512.8% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $143.57 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 41.38 and a beta of 1.32. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $88.26 and a 1 year high of $148.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. The business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,885 shares of company stock worth $5,155,010 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Granite Construction from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.67.

About Granite Construction

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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