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

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 628,470 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,447 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.44% of Granite Construction worth $55,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GVA. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the third quarter worth about $273,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 176.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,092 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,631 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Castleark Management LLC boosted its position in Granite Construction by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 72,520 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth $283,000.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total value of $165,138.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,131,914. This represents a 12.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $217,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 28,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,462,227.84. This represents a 8.13 % 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 Stock Performance

GVA stock 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.22.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $977.30 million for the quarter. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 20.67%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.