EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,692 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $440,000. Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $506,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $817,000.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.8%

GVA stock opened at $85.57 on Wednesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $58.23 and a 12 month high of $105.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

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

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 owns 28,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,462,227.84. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total transaction of $165,138.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,914. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,932 shares of company stock worth $896,979. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.