Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) Coverage Initiated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 35.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports 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 upgraded Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GLDD opened at $14.80 on Thursday. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a 12 month low of $7.51 and a 12 month high of $15.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. 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 fifty day moving average price is $13.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.18.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $195.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David Johanson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,224,700.26. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC increased its stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 46,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. Mirabaud & Cie SA acquired a new position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock during the fourth quarter worth about $157,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 105,846 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 13,414 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 12.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 888,739 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,656,000 after purchasing an additional 99,463 shares in the last quarter. 89.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company Profile

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.