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GRANITE CONSTRUCTION INC

For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Apr 25, 2024.

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About this filing

What shareholders are asked to vote on at a company's meeting. It is where to find what directors and top executives are paid, and who owns the most shares.

Dec 31, 2023 · Filed Apr 25, 2024

GVA$120.52-0.4%Stored close · as of Nov 6, 2026
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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )

Filed by the Registrant ☒

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐

Check the appropriate box:

☐Preliminary Proxy Statement
☐Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
☒Definitive Proxy Statement
☐Definitive Additional Materials
☐Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):

☒No fee required
☐Fee paid previously with preliminary materials
☐Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11

585 West Beach Street

Watsonville, California 95076

Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

April 25, 2024

Date:Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Time:10:30 a.m., Pacific Time
Place:Virtual Meeting http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GVA2024

Purposes of the Meeting:

To elect three directors of Granite Construction Incorporated (the “Company”) for a term set to expire at the 2027 annual meeting;

To hold an advisory vote on executive compensation for the Named Executive Officers;

To approve the Granite Construction Incorporated 2024 Equity Incentive Plan;

To ratify the appointment by the Audit/Compliance Committee of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Granite's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024;

To vote on a shareholder proposal, if properly presented at the Annual Meeting, regarding a report on the I-80 South Quarry Project; and

To consider any other matters properly brought before the meeting.

Who May Attend the Meeting:

Only shareholders and/or their representatives, persons holding proxies from shareholders, and invited representatives of the media and financial community may attend the meeting.

How to Participate:

To participate in the Annual Meeting, you must visit http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GVA2024 and enter the 16-digit control number included in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, on your proxy card, or in the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials. During the Annual Meeting, shareholders may vote their shares virtually and submit questions by following the instructions available on the meeting website. If you are a beneficial shareholder, you may contact the bank, broker or other institution where you hold your shares if you have questions about obtaining your control number.

Record Date:

The record date for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) is April 12, 2024. This means that if you own Granite stock at the close of business on that date, you are entitled to receive notice of the meeting and vote at the meeting and any adjournments or postponements of the meeting.

Annual Report:

Our Annual Report to Shareholders for 2023 will be made available to shareholders at the same time as the proxy materials.

Shareholder List:

For 10 days prior to the meeting, a complete list of shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting will be available for examination by any shareholder for any purpose related to the meeting during regular business hours at Granite's headquarters located at 585 West Beach Street, Watsonville, CA 95076.

Information about the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials:

Instead of mailing a printed copy of our proxy materials, including our Annual Report, to each shareholder of record, we will provide access to these materials online. This reduces the amount of paper necessary to produce these materials, as well as the costs associated with mailing these materials to all shareholders. Accordingly, on or about April 25, 2024, we will begin mailing a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials to all shareholders of record as of April 12, 2024, other than persons who hold shares in the Granite Construction Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (such persons, the “401(k) Participants” and such plan, the “401(k) Plan”). We will also post our proxy materials on the website referenced in the Notice (https://www.proxyvote.com). All 401(k) Participants will receive a package in the mail that includes all proxy materials. The proxy materials will be mailed to all 401(k) Participants on or about April 25, 2024.

All shareholders may choose to access our proxy materials online or may request to receive a printed set of our proxy materials. In addition, the Notice and website provide information regarding how you may request to receive proxy materials in printed form by mail on an ongoing basis.

Proxy Voting:

Your vote is important. Please vote your proxy promptly so your shares can be represented at the Annual Meeting even if you plan to attend the meeting. Shareholders, including 401(k) Participants, can vote by Internet, telephone or mail. Shareholders, other than 401(k) Participants, may revoke a proxy and vote virtually if attending the Annual Meeting.

The Annual Meeting will be held exclusively online via live audio webcast on the above date and time. You or your proxyholder will be able to attend the Annual Meeting online, vote your shares virtually and submit questions during the meeting by visiting http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GVA2024 and using your 16-digit control number included in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, on your proxy card, or in the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials.

In the event of a technical malfunction or other situation that the meeting chair determines may affect the ability of the Annual Meeting to satisfy the requirements for a meeting of shareholders to be held by means of remote communication under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or that otherwise makes it advisable to adjourn the Annual Meeting, the chair or secretary of the meeting will convene the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time on the date specified above and at our address specified above solely for the purpose of adjourning the meeting to reconvene at a date, time and physical or virtual location announced by the meeting chair. Under either of the foregoing circumstances, we will post information regarding the adjournment on the investors page of our website at www.graniteconstruction.com. Additionally, the Company will display during the time scheduled for the Annual Meeting at http://www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GVA2024 the date, time and physical or virtual location of the adjourned meeting.

By Order of the Board of Directors,

M. Craig HallSenior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Compliance Officer and Secretary

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PROXY STATEMENT1
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS2
Director Qualifications3
Nominees for Director to be Elected for Terms Expiring at the 2027 Annual Meeting5
Continuing Directors with Terms Expiring at the 2025 Annual Meeting6
Continuing Directors with Terms Expiring at the 2026 Annual Meeting8
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE9
Committees of the Board9
Audit/Compliance Committee9
Compensation Committee9
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee10
Risk Committee10
Role of the Compensation Consultant11
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation12
The Lead Director and Executive Sessions12
Board Leadership Structure and Its Role in Risk Oversight12
Board of Directors' Nomination Policy14
Evaluation Criteria and Procedures14
Shareholder Recommendation and Direct Nomination of Board Candidates15
Director Independence15
Board and Annual Shareholder Meeting Attendance16
Communications with the Board16
Corporate Governance Guidelines and Policies16
Insider Trading Policy and Employee, Officer and Director Hedging17
Code of Conduct17
Inclusive Diversity17
Granite Website17
PROPOSAL 2: ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION18
PROPOSAL 3: APPROVAL OF THE GRANITE CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED 2024 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN19
EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION AND OTHER MATTERS27
Compensation Discussion and Analysis27
Objective of the Compensation Program27
Executive Officer Compensation Program27
Annual Review of Executive Compensation and Practices28
Role of the Compensation Committee and CEO in Determining Executive Compensation28
Role of the Compensation Consultant28
Annual Risk Assessment28
Market Data Considered in Determining Executive Compensation for 202328
Peer Group of Public Companies29
Compensation Elements30

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Base Salary30
2023 Annual Incentive Plan Compensation30
Annual Incentive Opportunity30
2023 AIP Performance Measures and Results31
Long Term Incentive Compensation33
Performance Awards34
RONA Performance Metric34
TSR Performance Metric34
Payouts for 2020 - 2022 Total Shareholder Return Awards Paid in 202335
Payouts for 2021 - 2023 Total Shareholder Return Awards Paid in 202436
Time-Based Service Awards36
Additional Compensation-Related Policies and Retirement Benefits36
Clawback Policy and Clawbacks37
Stock Ownership Guidelines37
Anti-Hedging Policy37
Anti-Pledging Policy37
Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation38
Flexible Bonus Policy38
Other Compensation38
Impact of Accounting and Tax Treatments of a Particular Form of Compensation38
Change-in-Control39
Compensation Committee Report41
Executive Compensation Tables42
Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change-in-Control46
Director Compensation48
Stock Ownership48
Cash and Equity Compensation Policy48
Director Compensation Table49
Pay Ratio Disclosure50
Pay versus Performance51
Equity Compensation Plan Information55
PROPOSAL 4: RATIFICATION OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM56
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS57
Principal Accountant Fees and Services57
Audit/Compliance Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures57
PROPOSAL 5: SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL REGARDING A REPORT ON THE I-80 SOUTH QUARRY PROJECT57
REPORT OF THE AUDIT/COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE59
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PERSONS60
STOCK OWNERSHIP OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND CERTAIN MANAGEMENT62

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
VOTING INFORMATION64
Who Pays for This Solicitation?64
Who Can Vote?64
How Do I Vote and What Is the Deadline for Voting My Shares?64
What Is the Voting Requirement To Approve the Proposals?64
How Are Votes Counted?65
After I Vote by Proxy Can I Change or Revoke My Proxy?66
Can I Vote at the Annual Meeting Instead of Voting by Proxy?66
What Constitutes a Quorum?66
Who Supervises the Voting at the Meeting?66
How Can I Find Out the Voting Results?66
PARTICIPATING IN THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS67
SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE 2025 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS68
HOUSEHOLDING69
OTHER MATTERS71
APPENDIX A: GRANITE CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED 2024 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN72

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ContentsView on SEC.gov

The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.