BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 2,474,947 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 90.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,831 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,474,947 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.59% of Granite Construction worth $22,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Granite Construction by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 325 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in Granite Construction by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 900 shares of the construction company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 193.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 3,617 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $290,734.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,639,579.08. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total value of $165,138.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,131,914. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,932 shares of company stock worth $896,979. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Granite Construction Price Performance

GVA stock traded down $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $85.99. 73,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 649,606. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.46 and a 200-day moving average of $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction Incorporated has a twelve month low of $58.23 and a twelve month high of $105.20.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The construction company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.44. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The firm had revenue of $699.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $706.15 million. The company's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Granite Construction's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Granite Construction Company 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.