Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?: Matrix Service Co (MTRX), Dycom Industries, Inc. (DY)

Is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) a sound investment today? Prominent investors are getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 1 lately.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to analyze stocks. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action surrounding Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD).

What have hedge funds been doing with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD)?

At year’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Otter Creek Management, managed by Roger Keith Long, holds the largest position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD). Otter Creek Management has a $5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, which held a $5 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and John Bader’s Halcyon Asset Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have jumped into Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) headfirst. Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, initiated the most outsized position in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD). Ascend Capital had 5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management also made a $4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.

What have insiders been doing with Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD). These stocks are Argan, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:AGX), Dycom Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DY), Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN), Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ:LAYN), and Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX). This group of stocks are the members of the heavy construction industry and their market caps match GLDD’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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