Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 194,397 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,377 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.44% of Granite Construction worth $9,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 101,133 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,144,000 after buying an additional 5,265 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $518,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at $1,119,000. Finally, RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 295,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,005,000 after purchasing an additional 5,412 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE GVA opened at $59.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.39 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.51. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $33.74 and a 52-week high of $61.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.85 and a 200-day moving average of $49.40.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $933.70 million during the quarter. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 14.91% and a net margin of 0.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.14%.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In related news, Director Louis E. Caldera sold 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $63,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,400. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GVA shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Granite Construction from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Granite Construction from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th.

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.