Systematic Financial Management LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Systematic Financial Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 535,889 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 16,635 shares during the quarter. Granite Construction comprises about 1.5% of Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $61,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 41.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 11,385 shares during the last quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,799,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,783,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 9.1% in the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 160,331 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,580,000 after buying an additional 13,401 shares during the period. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 1,591.8% in the fourth quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 45,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,216,000 after buying an additional 42,550 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $130.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.19. Granite Construction Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $145.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. The company had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $182,516.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,447.36. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $3,148,016.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 114,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,569,743.72. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,488 shares of company stock worth $4,207,042. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.