Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) Surges 12.7%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) shares ended the last trading session 12.7% higher at $15.44. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 3.2% gain over the past four weeks.

GLDD stock is expected to have surged on the back of robust opportunities for coastal protection and dredging services, mainly backed by the government’s public spending strength. Increasing backlog trends and improving business prospects, with a highlighted share buyback program of about $50 million, are expected to have boosted investors’ confidence.

This provider of dredging and dock-contracting services is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.22 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -24.1%. Revenues are expected to be $219.45 million, up 8.2% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 5.7% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on GLDD going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is a member of the Zacks Building Products - Heavy Construction industry. One other stock in the same industry, Orion Marine Group (ORN), finished the last trading session 4.6% higher at $11.22. ORN has returned 4.4% over the past month.

For Orion Marine, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.05. This represents a change of -68.8% from what the company reported a year ago. Orion Marine currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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