Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $112.17 and last traded at $111.2920, with a volume of 492670 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $108.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07 and a beta of 1.33.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the sale, the director owned 10,206 shares in the company, valued at $1,073,977.38. This represents a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter worth $213,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter worth $512,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 21,390 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,345,000 after buying an additional 3,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at about $313,000.

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.