Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $99.72 and last traded at $99.08, with a volume of 37497 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $98.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.50 and a 200-day moving average of $72.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.55 and a beta of 1.39.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is currently 23.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank grew its stake in Granite Construction by 177.6% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 113,514 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 72,621 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC boosted its position in Granite Construction by 4.3% in the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 72,580 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,513,000. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,513,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 128,511 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after acquiring an additional 17,738 shares during the period.

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.