John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Sells 17,350 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,755 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,350 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $6,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 73.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 9,038 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,428 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Granite Construction by 2,423.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,363.65. This trade represents a 15.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.00.

Granite Construction Trading Down 1.0%

GVA opened at $124.41 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Granite Construction Incorporated has a one year low of $89.80 and a one year high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The firm had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.99%.

About Granite Construction

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.