Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Short Interest Up 8.0% in June

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,020,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the May 31st total of 4,650,000 shares. Approximately 11.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 437,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 11.5 days.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $61.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.56 and a beta of 1.41. Granite Construction has a 12-month low of $33.74 and a 12-month high of $65.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The construction company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.28. Granite Construction had a net margin of 0.98% and a return on equity of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $672.28 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Granite Construction will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.21, for a total transaction of $45,907.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $454,361.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 44.0% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,170,000 after purchasing an additional 33,000 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 926.5% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 61,239 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 55,273 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Granite Construction by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 639,849 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,543,000 after purchasing an additional 49,610 shares in the last quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $2,197,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,554,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

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.