Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 17.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,104,213 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 226,988 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.52% of Granite Construction worth $121,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Granite Construction by 94.6% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Granite Construction by 222.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 707 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 898 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE GVA opened at $125.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.27. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $137.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 4.36%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GVA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.50.

About Granite Construction

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.