Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 19,300 Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,300 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,314,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 512.8% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $158.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $89.80 and a 1 year high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GVA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.25.

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.