Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,539 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,408,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Granite Construction as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in Granite Construction by 512.8% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter valued at about $77,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders acquired 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GVA. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Granite Construction from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $158.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $124.08 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.79 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $97.26 and a 52 week high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a negative net margin of 3.32% and a positive return on equity of 27.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is -12.06%.

Granite Construction Company 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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