Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,697,264 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 49,533 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.73% of Granite Construction worth $515,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 41.5% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 11,385 shares during the period. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,799,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at $301,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,979 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Granite Construction by 4.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,221,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,179,000 after buying an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.4%

GVA opened at $135.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.34. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $69.08 and a 12 month high of $137.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Granite Construction 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.