Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 20,415 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 97.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,455 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,415 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Granite Construction worth $3,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at $992,000. Teza Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the construction company's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 20,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,754,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth approximately $293,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter worth about $1,465,000.

Granite Construction Price Performance

NYSE GVA traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $89.76. 199,882 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 656,228. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $58.23 and a 12 month high of $105.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $80.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.74. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The construction company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.44. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The firm had revenue of $699.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $706.15 million. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total value of $185,814.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,726,831.44. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 2,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.02, for a total value of $223,255.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 136,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,913,447.68. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,432 shares of company stock valued at $699,804. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Granite Construction 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.