Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 47,414 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the previous session’s volume of 98,684 shares.The stock last traded at $43.85 and had previously closed at $43.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Willdan Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Willdan Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock.

Willdan Group Stock Up 4.0 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $635.71 million, a PE ratio of 26.80 and a beta of 1.39.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.15. Willdan Group had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 3.97%. The business had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Willdan Group, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Willdan Group

In other news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 10,000 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $364,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,491,065.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 10,000 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $364,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,491,065.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 10,346 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total value of $378,767.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,213,668.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,305 shares of company stock worth $1,105,451. Company insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Willdan Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WLDN. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 2,785.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 668,310 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,281,000 after purchasing an additional 645,145 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the first quarter worth about $12,628,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the third quarter worth about $2,970,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 1,905.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 55,144 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 52,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 339.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 55,426 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 42,826 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional, technical, and consulting services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Energy, and Engineering and Consulting. The Energy segment offers comprehensive audit and surveys, program design and implementation, master planning, demand reduction, grid optimization, benchmarking analyses, design engineering, construction management, performance contracting, installation, alternative financing, measurement and verification services, and software and data analytics, as well as energy consulting and engineering, turnkey facility and infrastructure projects, and customer support services.