Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 49,533 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,697,264 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 49,533 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Granite Construction worth $515,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GVA. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 73.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 9,038 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after purchasing an additional 29,428 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 64.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Granite Construction by 9.6% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 71,167 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,655,000 after purchasing an additional 6,215 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $135.68 on Thursday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $69.08 and a 1 year high of $137.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.88. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 4.36%.Granite Construction’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 14.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on GVA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.