Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,475,391 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 316,332 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 3.37% of Granite Construction worth $161,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Granite Construction Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:GVA opened at $134.43 on Monday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12 month low of $69.08 and a 12 month high of $137.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.37 and its 200-day moving average is $113.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid 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 payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GVA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.50.

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.