VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Decreases Stock Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 43.6% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 14,678 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 55.6% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,188 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Granite Construction by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,843 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,433,000 after purchasing an additional 5,241 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Granite Construction by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,327,000.

Granite Construction Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE GVA opened at $115.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.21. Granite Construction Incorporated has a one year low of $69.08 and a one year high of $119.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24 and a beta of 1.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Construction news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total value of $801,221.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GVA. DA Davidson increased their target price on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

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.