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

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. (NASDAQ:GLDD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $12.27 and last traded at $12.25, with a volume of 250813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GLDD. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Noble Financial increased their target price on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $790.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.25.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.08. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $170.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lasse Petterson sold 53,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total transaction of $487,165.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 987,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,949,087.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 128,990 shares of company stock worth $1,174,747. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 347,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,659,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 11.0% in the second quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,150 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,097 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 8.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 38,688 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 2,919 shares during the last quarter. 89.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company Profile

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation provides dredging services in the United States. The company engages in capital dredging that consists of port expansion projects; coastal restoration and land reclamations; trench digging for pipelines, tunnels, and cables; and other dredging related to the construction of breakwaters, jetties, canals, and other marine structures.