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

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $137.20 and last traded at $135.6810, with a volume of 609294 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $136.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GVA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.4%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.88. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 73.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after buying an additional 9,038 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 21.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,428 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 71,167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,655,000 after purchasing an additional 6,215 shares in the last quarter.

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.