Short Interest in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Declines By 14.9%

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,010,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the August 15th total of 5,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 667,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.5 days. Approximately 11.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE GVA traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $77.44. The company had a trading volume of 607,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 496,020. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.90 and its 200-day moving average is $62.45. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $33.74 and a 1-year high of $79.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.12 and a beta of 1.39.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted 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. Granite Construction had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 30.8% during 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. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note 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.