Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 370,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 20,600 shares during the quarter. Granite Construction accounts for approximately 1.5% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $42,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 8.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $175,701,000 after acquiring an additional 131,360 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 569.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,339,818 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,064,000 after buying an additional 1,139,818 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 12.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 861,770 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $94,493,000 after buying an additional 94,902 shares during the last quarter. Cartenna Capital LP lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 22.0% in the third quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 610,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,886,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 87.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after buying an additional 259,477 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Granite Construction stock opened at $124.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.86. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $74.36 and a fifty-two week high of $137.24.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 4.36%.Granite Construction’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other news, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,271,447.36. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $3,148,016.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,881 shares in the company, valued at $13,569,743.72. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,042. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.