Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 104,510 Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 104,510 Granite Construction shares worth approximately $16.5 million, representing about 0.24% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $158.50 consensus price target, despite Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to “sell.”
• Granite Construction reported quarterly revenue of $1.46 billion, up 28.8% year over year, but missed EPS expectations at $2.16 versus $2.25; the company also declared a $0.13 quarterly dividend.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 104,510 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $16,521,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.24% of Granite Construction at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 3.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 4.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GVA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $122.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $97.26 and a 12 month high of $162.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $130.84 and a 200-day moving average of $130.80.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced 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. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is currently -12.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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