Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management trimmed its Granite Construction stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,974 shares and leaving it with 211,848 shares valued at about $24.4 million.
• Granite Construction reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $0.26 per share versus expectations for a loss and revenue of $912.5 million, topping estimates and rising 30.4% year over year.
• Despite the solid results, sentiment remains mixed: analysts currently rate the stock Hold on average, while insiders have also been selling shares, including CEO Kyle T. Larkin and CFO Staci M. Woolsey.

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,848 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 21,974 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.49% of Granite Construction worth $24,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company's stock worth $12,732,000 after purchasing an additional 29,428 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 2,423.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company's stock worth $8,405,000 after purchasing an additional 86,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000.

Granite Construction Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $130.06 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $127.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 1.35. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $145.00.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GVA has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

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

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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