Fisher Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management cut its Granite Construction stake by 4.3% in Q4, but still held 346,976 shares worth about $40.0 million at quarter-end.
• Granite Construction reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.26 versus an expected loss of $0.77 and revenue of $912.5 million, topping estimates and rising 30.4% year over year.
• Despite mixed sentiment from analysts, the stock has seen recent price-target increases from firms like DA Davidson and Goldman Sachs, while insiders also sold shares over the past three months.

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 346,976 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 15,529 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.79% of Granite Construction worth $40,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 8.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company's stock worth $175,701,000 after buying an additional 131,360 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 569.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,064,000 after buying an additional 1,139,818 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 12.4% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 861,770 shares of the construction company's stock worth $94,493,000 after buying an additional 94,902 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company's stock worth $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 22.0% during the third quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 610,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $66,886,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Up 2.7%

GVA opened at $133.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48 and a beta of 1.35. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $87.72 and a 12 month high of $145.00.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. The business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other news, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,271,447.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $3,148,016.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,569,743.72. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 35,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,042 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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