Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 249,305 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,622 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Granite Construction worth $27,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Granite Construction by 94.6% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 31.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 898 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 64.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of GVA stock opened at $130.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $131.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $117.84 and its 200 day moving average is $109.41.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. Research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

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.