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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GVA stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.44. 607,651 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,020. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 132.12 and a beta of 1.39. Granite Construction has a 12 month low of $33.74 and a 12 month high of $79.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $1.73 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Granite Construction 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. Investors 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 is Monday, September 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $346,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,518,894.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 30.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the first quarter valued at $107,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at $215,000.

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.