Empower Advisory Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC has reduced its stake in Granite Construction by 17.5%, holding approximately 0.57% of the company, valued at $18.69 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Granite Construction significantly, with Voya Investment Management boosting its holdings by 1,058% in the last quarter.
• Granite Construction recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.6%, with a payout ratio of 21.67%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 247,860 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 52,479 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.57% of Granite Construction worth $18,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GVA. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 214.2% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 377 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 325 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 640 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 674 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total value of $185,814.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 18,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,726,831.44. The trade was a 9.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday.

Granite Construction Trading Up 5.1%

Shares of NYSE:GVA traded up $5.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,395,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.42. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $67.92 and a fifty-two week high of $107.66.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 21.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Granite Construction's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Granite Construction Profile

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.