Aquatic Capital Management LLC Sells 4,868 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Aquatic Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,740 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,868 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Granite Construction worth $5,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Granite Construction by 41.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 11,385 shares during the last quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,799,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,066,000 after buying an additional 7,979 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth $2,013,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,221,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,179,000 after buying an additional 46,552 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $123.07 on Tuesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $69.08 and a 52-week high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.57. The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

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

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.