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Is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) Outperforming Other Construction Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Construction stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is a member of our Construction group, which includes 88 different companies and currently sits at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GLDD's full-year earnings has moved 39.7% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, GLDD has moved about 3.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Construction sector has returned an average of -4.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Construction sector, Babcock International Group PLC (BCKIY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 145.1%.

In Babcock International Group PLC's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 7.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock belongs to the Building Products - Heavy Construction industry, a group that includes 10 individual companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 6.9% so far this year, so GLDD is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Babcock International Group PLC belongs to the Engineering - R and D Services industry. This 17-stock industry is currently ranked #91. The industry has moved +4.5% year to date.

Investors interested in the Construction sector may want to keep a close eye on Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Babcock International Group PLC as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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