Reviewing Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) and Bird Construction (OTCMKTS:BIRDF)

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) and Bird Construction (OTCMKTS:BIRDF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Bird Construction pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock pays out 7.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bird Construction pays out 111.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.1% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.3% of Bird Construction shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Bird Construction’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	8.27%	16.46%	6.48%
Bird Construction	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Bird Construction, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	1	4	1	0	2.00
Bird Construction	0	0	5	0	3.00

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock presently has a consensus target price of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.00%. Given Great Lakes Dredge & Dock’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is more favorable than Bird Construction.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Bird Construction”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	$888.28 million	1.28	$73.47 million	$1.07	15.89
Bird Construction	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.68	73.50

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has higher revenue and earnings than Bird Construction. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bird Construction, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock beats Bird Construction on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. engages in the provision of dredging services. Its projects include channel and port maintenance, channel deepening and port expansion, coastal protection and restoration, as well as land reclamation. The company was founded by William A. Lydon and Frederick C. Drews in 1890 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About Bird Construction

Bird Construction Inc. provides construction services in Canada. The company primarily focuses on projects in the industrial, and institutional, and infrastructure markets. It constructs large, complex industrial buildings, including manufacturing, processing, distribution, and warehouse facilities; and provides electrical and instrumentation, high voltage testing and commissioning services, as well as power line construction, structural, mechanical, and piping, including off-site metal and modular fabrication. It also engages in the civil construction operations, such as site preparation and earthworks, underground piping, utilities and foundation, drilling, blasting, and other concrete services, as well as contract mining, mine support, and greenfield and brownfield hydroelectric facilities; steel modular construction; and civil infrastructure operations comprising road, bridge, rail, and underground utilities installation. In addition, it constructs and retrofits institutional facilities, include healthcare facilities, post-secondary education facilities, K-12 schools, public safety and defence facilities, recreation facilities, transportation, courthouses, government buildings, and long term care and senior housing facilities; offers industrial maintenance, repair, and operations services; and constructs new construction and retrofit of warehousing, laboratories, manufacturing and processing facilities, data centers, office buildings, retail spaces, film studio infrastructure, hotels, and mixed-use mid- to high-rise residential buildings. Further, it offers electrical and related system services, such as electrical and mechanical infrastructure design and installation, data communications, telecommunications, security, and lifecycle services. It serves oil and gas, chemicals, liquefied natural gas, natural resources, nuclear, power, renewable energy, and water and wastewater sectors. The company was founded in 1920 and is based in Mississauga, Canada.