Short Interest in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Increases By 5.3%

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,530,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the September 30th total of 4,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 601,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.5 days. Currently, 10.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Granite Construction Trading Up 2.9 %

Granite Construction stock opened at $86.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 49.71 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.12. Granite Construction has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $88.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Granite Construction from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,518,894.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted 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 valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 902 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Company Profile

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.