Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GLDD. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began 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 price target on the stock. CJS Securities raised Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Johanson sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $29,316.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,283,803.48. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,323,251 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,835,000 after buying an additional 35,044 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,987,334 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,314,000 after acquiring an additional 108,033 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 10.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,412,467 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,925,000 after acquiring an additional 231,558 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,656,547 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $20,195,000 after acquiring an additional 51,269 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 228.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,146,135 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,742,000 after purchasing an additional 797,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.11% of the company’s stock.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Performance

GLDD traded down $0.11 on Thursday, reaching $15.21. 262,097 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 985,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.40. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a fifty-two week low of $7.51 and a fifty-two week high of $16.72.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $195.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.30 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.