JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD)

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.41% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Texas Capital lowered Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. CJS Securities raised shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.00.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Performance

Shares of GLDD stock opened at $16.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.28 and its 200 day moving average is $13.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.38. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a 12 month low of $7.51 and a 12 month high of $16.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The construction company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $256.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.30 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 16.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Johanson sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $29,316.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,283,803.48. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GLDD. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock during the fourth quarter valued at about $177,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 4,730.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,287 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 312,266 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after buying an additional 66,178 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 16,654 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 5,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 152,586 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 35,234 shares in the last quarter. 89.11% of the stock is 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.