Trexquant Investment LP Purchases 58,143 Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 343.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,058 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,143 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.17% of Granite Construction worth $6,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 193.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,751 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $217,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 28,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,462,227.84. This represents a 8.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total transaction of $165,138.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,914. This trade represents a 12.73 % 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 Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of 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 company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.79 and a 200-day moving average of $86.22.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company 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 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 currently 21.05%.

Granite Construction Company 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.