Hill City Capital LP Purchases Shares of 1,110,248 Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Hill City Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,110,248 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,508,000. Granite Construction accounts for about 4.5% of Hill City Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in Granite Construction by 512.8% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth about $77,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Granite Construction from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.3%

Granite Construction stock opened at $124.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of -28.79 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $97.26 and a 12 month high of $162.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a negative net margin of 3.32% and a positive return on equity of 27.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently -12.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased a total of 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Company Profile

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.