UPDATE: Imperial Capital Research Initiates Outperform, $9 PT on Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation; Legislation Catalyst

Imperial Capital Research initiates its coverage on Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation GLDD with a rating of Outperform and a price target of $9 a share. Imperial Capital notes, "As the leading provider of dredging services in the U.S., we believe Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is well positioned to benefit from favorable fundamental in the dredging space. We expect increased spending in the U.S. dredging market over the next few years, driven by a catch-up in maintenance dredging after years of continual under investment and the need to deepen ports to accommodate Post-Panamax ships once the Panama Canal expansion is compete. …If passed, current legislation in Congress related to fully designating the Harbor Maintenance Trust dredging bid market by as much as 50%." GLDD closed at $6.44 on Monday.