Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. (NASDAQ:GLDD) Short Interest Down 33.0% in December

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. (NASDAQ:GLDD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 577,100 shares, a decrease of 33.0% from the December 15th total of 861,800 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 407,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ GLDD traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $11.77. The company had a trading volume of 321,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,773. The firm's 50 day moving average is $12.01 and its 200 day moving average is $10.69. The company has a market capitalization of $791.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.17. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a fifty-two week low of $6.55 and a fifty-two week high of $12.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The construction company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $191.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.80 million. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Great Lakes Dredge & Dock news, Director Kathleen M. Shanahan sold 23,238 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.63, for a total transaction of $293,495.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 67,675 shares in the company, valued at $854,735.25. This represents a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 8.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 254,686 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 20,781 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 36.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 420,055 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,688,000 after buying an additional 112,160 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the second quarter worth $227,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in the second quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock by 600.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 116,867 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 100,183 shares during the last quarter. 89.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Noble Financial lifted their price target on shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

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.