Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on GLDD. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 24th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Price Performance

GLDD stock opened at $14.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.46. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a 12-month low of $7.51 and a 12-month high of $16.72.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 9.65%.The company had revenue of $195.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.30 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Johanson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.02, for a total transaction of $130,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,224,700.26. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLDD. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 79.2% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,161 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 231.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,474 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.11% of the company’s stock.

About Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ: GLDD) is a leading provider of dredging and maritime construction services in the United States. The company specializes in the excavation and removal of sediment from waterways, harbors, ports and coastal areas to maintain navigability and support commercial shipping. Its operations encompass both maintenance dredging—removing accumulated material to restore channel depth—and new work projects such as land reclamation and harbor deepening.

In addition to traditional dredging, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock offers a range of complementary marine construction services.