LPL Financial LLC Purchases 195 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,934 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Granite Construction worth $3,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,651,676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $232,579,000 after acquiring an additional 263,302 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,419 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,237,000 after acquiring an additional 294,200 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 579,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,818,000 after acquiring an additional 87,783 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 535,318 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,959,000 after acquiring an additional 51,520 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 530,971 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,572,000 after acquiring an additional 28,245 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

GVA opened at $109.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.70 and its 200 day moving average is $86.09. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $111.43.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 21.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is currently 16.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total transaction of $185,814.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 18,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,726,831.44. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note 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.