Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $14.02 and last traded at $13.93, with a volume of 87319 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GLDD shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.81. The stock has a market cap of $943.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.43.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $195.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.30 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 9.65%. Analysts forecast that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,323,251 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,835,000 after acquiring an additional 35,044 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,907,174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,992,000 after purchasing an additional 29,586 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 10.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,412,467 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,925,000 after purchasing an additional 231,558 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 3.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 228.7% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,146,135 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,742,000 after purchasing an additional 797,411 shares in the last quarter. 89.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.