Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Invests $714,000 in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,145 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,154,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,046,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,855,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Granite Construction by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,419 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $99,237,000 after acquiring an additional 294,200 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Granite Construction by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,651,676 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $232,579,000 after acquiring an additional 263,302 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Granite Construction stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.03. 511,864 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 653,850. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1-year low of $58.23 and a 1-year high of $105.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $217,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 28,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,462,227.84. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total value of $165,138.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,131,914. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,932 shares of company stock worth $896,979. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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.

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.