Investors in Tutor Perini Corp. just can’t seem to catch a break.

Just 10 days after the giant Sylmar construction company announced it had received more than $2 billion in contracts and was in line for nearly $1 billion more, word came down that a Nevada judge had issued a key ruling against the company in a massive construction defect lawsuit brought by the developer of a Las Vegas hotel tower.

The July 19 pretrial ruling allows developer MGM Resorts International to demolish the partly built 26-story Harmon Hotel tower that was to be the centerpiece of the massive $8.5 billion CityCenter project on the Las Vegas Strip. Numerous safety flaws were found in the tower, leaving the building susceptible to major earthquake damage.

After the ruling, Tutor Perini shares plunged 14 percent last week to a nine-month low of $10.54, making it one of the biggest losers on the LABJ Stock Index. (See page 32.)

The flaws are the subject of a $500 million construction defect lawsuit filed by MGM Resorts against Tutor Perini, the lead construction contractor, claiming shoddy workmanship.

Tutor Perini attorneys argued that the flaws were the result of faulty designs from the MGM Resorts team and that tearing down the building would prevent a jury from viewing evidence of design flaws.

The fundamentals of the construction company have appeared sound as backlogs have grown and the company has reported winning major contracts and being short-listed for several multibillion-dollar projects.

However, Chief Executive Ronald Tutor has been selling shares to raise money for his film ventures, which hasn’t done wonders for the stock price, either.

In the first half of this year, Tutor sold more than 1.3 million shares worth nearly $18 million, for a total of more than $183 million worth since 2010. His stake in the company has shrunk to 18 percent from 43 percent in 2008.

Tutor made headlines with the purchase of the Miramax film studio in 2010 in a partnership with Colony Capital LLC, Qatar Holding LLC and actor Rob Lowe. But his Tutor Perini money hasn’t gone into the Miramax purchase; it’s gone into other film ventures.

In his most recent conference call with analysts in May, Tutor said he was “a week or 10 days away from executing and selling my movie interests … God willing and the purchasers.” But, he added, if the sales didn’t go through, he would sell more Tutor Perini shares in June or July.

He sold an additional 381,000 shares of Tutor Perini stock for roughly $4.3 million in June.