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4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Great Lakes Dredge & Dock

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (Nasdaq: GLDD  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Great Lakes' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Great Lakes facts

Headquarters (founded) Oak Brook, Ill. (1890)
Market Cap $323.5 million
Industry Construction and engineering
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $680.9 million
Management

CEO Jonathan Berger (since 2010)

CFO Bruce Biemeck (since 2010)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 7.6%
Cash/Debt $105.7 million / $257.7 million
Dividend Yield 1.5%

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 93% of the 171 members who have rated Great Lakes believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include helicopterfool and Dynablob.

A few months ago , helicopterfool touched on the tailwinds working in Great Lakes' favor: "Company is leader in dredging harbors. New law requiring deeper US harbors. ... They should benefit."

Over the next five years, in fact, Great Lakes is expected to grow its bottom line at a brisk rate of 20% annually. That's faster than much larger construction and engineering plays such as Fluor (NYSE: FLR  ) (11%), Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC  ) (12%), and KBR (NYSE: KBR  ) (10%).

CAPS member Dynablob elaborates on the Great Lakes bull case:

Changes in legislation will require Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to distribute surplus funds to pay for domestic dredging projects. Huge need for domestic dredging work because US ports are shallower than international counterparts (and not deep enough for the largest ships). Expanding the Panama Canal (complete 2014) will only further expand need for deepening of US ports. Federally protected industry means that there are few companies that can compete for these projects.

What do you think about Great Lakes, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended shorting Jacobs. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


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Related Tickers

5/25/2012 4:00 PM
GLDD $6.59 Up +0.08 +1.23%
Great Lakes Dredge… CAPS Rating: ****
KBR $26.16 Down -0.29 -1.10%
KBR, Inc. CAPS Rating: ****
JEC $36.96 Down -0.07 -0.19%
Jacobs Engineering… CAPS Rating: ****
FLR $49.70 Down -0.35 -0.70%
Fluor Corporation CAPS Rating: *****

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