Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 86,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $6,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 72,621 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.3% in the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 72,580 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter worth about $4,513,000. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at about $4,513,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Granite Construction by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 128,511 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after purchasing an additional 17,738 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $98.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.56. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $43.92 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 45.31 and a beta of 1.39.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 23.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.