Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $99.72 and last traded at $99.08, with a volume of 37497 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Granite Construction Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.55 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 2.80%. Granite Construction's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 66.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 902 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter worth about $107,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 82.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the construction company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000.

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.