Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Acquired by Magnetar Financial LLC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Granite Construction by 1,051.5% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.15% of the company valued at over $5 million.
• Granite Construction's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with Goldman Sachs setting a target price of $76 and a "sell" rating, while Wall Street Zen upgraded it to a "buy" rating.
• Insider trading activity included significant sales by senior officials, with a combined total of 5,525 shares sold over the last ninety days, reflecting overall decreases in ownership.

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 1,051.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,962 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,147 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC owned 0.15% of Granite Construction worth $5,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,952 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 3,190 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,787 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,666,000 after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 325 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 579,384 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,818,000 after acquiring an additional 87,783 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the construction company's stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $108.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 433,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,846. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $100.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37 and a beta of 1.41. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $112.16.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Granite Construction has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, Director Louis E. Caldera sold 1,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total transaction of $165,240.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,167,806.16. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 2,000 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $220,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,241 shares in the company, valued at $3,216,510. This trade represents a 6.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,525 shares of company stock valued at $608,314 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Sell" and an average target price of $76.00.

Granite Construction Company 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.