Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $16.40 Million Stock Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,825 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,297 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Granite Construction worth $16,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GVA. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 99.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,569,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280,288 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,143,000. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,513,000. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,513,000. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 177.6% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 113,514 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 72,621 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $95.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.86 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Granite Construction Incorporated has a one year low of $43.92 and a one year high of $99.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 23.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Granite Construction 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.