Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Position in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 687,917 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 97,895 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.57% of Granite Construction worth $56,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 99.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,569,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280,288 shares during the last quarter. Hill City Capital LP increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 5.2% during the third quarter. Hill City Capital LP now owns 978,938 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,610,000 after buying an additional 48,440 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 3.2% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 604,950 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,960,000 after buying an additional 18,586 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 2.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 596,158 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,263,000 after acquiring an additional 14,716 shares during the period. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at about $29,143,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $93.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78 and a beta of 1.41. Granite Construction Incorporated has a one year low of $43.92 and a one year high of $105.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.72.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.28 billion for 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%. Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 23.85%.

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.