Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), is not the largest company out there, but it led the NASDAQGS gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. The company's trading levels have reached its high for the past year, following the recent bounce in the share price. As a small cap stock, which tends to lack high analyst coverage, there is generally more of an opportunity for mispricing as there is less activity to push the stock closer to fair value. Is there still an opportunity here to buy? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

Is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Still Cheap?

According to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average, the stock currently looks expensive. We've used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there's not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock's ratio of 45.75x is currently well-above the industry average of 26.88x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. Another thing to keep in mind is that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's share price is quite stable relative to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This means that if you believe the current share price should move towards the levels of its industry peers over time, a low beta could suggest it is not likely to reach that level anytime soon, and once it's there, it may be hard for it to fall back down into an attractive buying range again.

What does the future of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it's the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to more than double over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? GLDD's optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe GLDD should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on GLDD for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for GLDD, which means it's worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

If you'd like to know more about Great Lakes Dredge & Dock as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and we think they deserve your attention.

If you are no longer interested in Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.