First Washington CORP Acquires 2,090 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

First Washington CORP raised its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 2.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 104,704 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Granite Construction comprises 2.4% of First Washington CORP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. First Washington CORP’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $6,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 38,191 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,309 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1492 Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 41,068 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 5,000 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $346,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,518,894.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of GVA stock opened at $77.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.45. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.63 and a beta of 1.39. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52 week low of $33.74 and a 52 week high of $78.62.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 2.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 88.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

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.