Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Shares Purchased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 83.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,221 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 4,657 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,419 shares of the construction company's stock worth $99,237,000 after purchasing an additional 294,200 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth about $92,154,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth about $61,046,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 584,398 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,813,000 after purchasing an additional 15,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 580,584 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,923,000 after purchasing an additional 105,420 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GVA traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.03. 511,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 652,133. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $58.23 and a 1 year high of $105.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $217,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 28,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,462,227.84. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 3,617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $290,734.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,639,579.08. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,932 shares of company stock valued at $896,979 over the last quarter. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Granite Construction

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.