Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 9,026 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 2.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 362,505 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,026 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $39,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Granite Construction by 34.7% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 52,636 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,772,000 after buying an additional 13,574 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 4,401 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,156 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,016,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 282.0% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 218,836 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,995,000 after purchasing an additional 161,554 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.3%

GVA opened at $132.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10 and a beta of 1.30. Granite Construction Incorporated has a one year low of $69.08 and a one year high of $137.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.60. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.