Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.41 and last traded at $15.3980, with a volume of 1211063 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GLDD. Zacks Research cut Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. CJS Securities raised shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Up 11.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.01 and a 200-day moving average of $12.07. 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 has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $195.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.30 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, equities analysts predict that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

In other news, SVP David Johanson sold 10,000 shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,224,700.26. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 105,846 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 13,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 888,739 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,656,000 after acquiring an additional 99,463 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 221,743 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,659,000 after purchasing an additional 56,427 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock during the 3rd quarter valued at $141,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the 3rd quarter worth $191,000. 89.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.