Fisher Asset Management LLC Purchases 168,673 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA - Free Report) by 86.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 363,816 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 168,673 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.83% of Granite Construction worth $28,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 0.5% in the second quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 38,191 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Granite Construction by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,309 shares of the construction company's stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 4,553 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 66.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 902 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 22,200 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Granite Construction stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.15. 182,059 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 537,627. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $43.92 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.26. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.31 and a beta of 1.39.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.46). Granite Construction had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Granite Construction's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Granite Construction from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

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.