Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 5.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 249,512 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,706 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $9,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 320.6% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 673 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 472.3% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 847 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the first quarter valued at $43,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GVA. TheStreet raised shares of Granite Construction from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:GVA opened at $46.39 on Tuesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1-year low of $33.74 and a 1-year high of $47.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 69.24 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.39 and a 200 day moving average of $39.71.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter. Granite Construction had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.61%.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor and a construction materials producer in the United States. The company 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.