Man Group plc Acquires New Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 52,690 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,329,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.12% of Granite Construction at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after buying an additional 29,428 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 2,423.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,405,000 after buying an additional 86,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Granite Construction stock opened at $122.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $130.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.81. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $97.26 and a 52 week high of $162.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.06%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders bought 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Granite Construction

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.