Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Key Points

• Norges Bank bought a new stake in Granite Construction, acquiring 315,601 shares valued at about $36.4 million and representing 0.72% ownership.
• Granite Construction reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.26 versus analysts’ expectation of a loss and revenue of $912.5 million, up 30.4% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, while insiders were notable sellers, including two SVPs who sold shares at $141 each.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 315,601 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $36,405,000. Norges Bank owned 0.72% of Granite Construction as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Granite Construction by 94.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $139.87 on Tuesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $87.72 and a 1 year high of $145.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $130.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.07.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The business had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction's payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GVA has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 49,722 shares of company stock valued at $6,214,036 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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