Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in Granite Construction by 0.9%, selling 42,459 shares and now owns 4,654,805 shares (10.66% of the company) valued at about $536.9 million.
• Granite reported a strong quarter, posting $0.26 EPS vs. a -$0.77 consensus and revenue of $912.5 million (up 30.4% year-over-year), beating analysts' expectations on both metrics.
• Analysts have raised targets and ratings recently — notably DA Davidson to a $155 "buy" and Goldman Sachs to $124 ("neutral") — leaving a MarketBeat consensus of a "Moderate Buy" and a $139.50 target price.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,654,805 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 42,459 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.66% of Granite Construction worth $536,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 4.6% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company's stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 4.4% during the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 4.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,675 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Granite Construction by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,224 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GVA has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE GVA opened at $137.60 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.65 and a beta of 1.35. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $80.41 and a 1 year high of $141.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $125.23 and its 200 day moving average is $118.00.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $912.47 million for 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 business's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction's payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other news, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total transaction of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,447.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 114,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,569,743.72. The trade was a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,488 shares of company stock worth $4,207,042. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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