Short Interest in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Increases By 5.5%

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,390,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the March 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 356,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.3 days. Currently, 10.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director Louis E. Caldera sold 1,263 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $63,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,528 shares in the company, valued at $426,400. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,554,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 378,995 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,409,000 after buying an additional 7,298 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at $978,000. Rock Point Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 138,430 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,902,000 after buying an additional 31,438 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $54.99 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $33.74 and a 1-year high of $57.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.36 and a beta of 1.45.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). Granite Construction had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $933.70 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Granite Construction will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Granite Construction Company Profile

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.