Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 628,470 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,447 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $55,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GVA. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter valued at about $89,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 193.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,751 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Granite Construction by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth $203,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total value of $217,850.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 28,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,462,227.84. This trade represents a 8.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total transaction of $165,138.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,914. The trade was a 12.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $71.85 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $105.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.19). Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The business had revenue of $977.30 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

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.