Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

WLDN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an outperform rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of WLDN opened at $38.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $537.48 million, a P/E ratio of 41.83 and a beta of 1.38. Willdan Group has a fifty-two week low of $17.09 and a fifty-two week high of $40.51. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $34.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.36.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.15. Willdan Group had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Willdan Group will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Willdan Group news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.01, for a total transaction of $341,110.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,475,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,765,705.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total value of $27,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,188,209.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.01, for a total value of $341,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,475,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,765,705.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 256,004 shares of company stock worth $7,890,685. 9.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 9,864 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Willdan Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,823 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 9.3% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 10,328 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willdan Group during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Willdan Group Company Profile

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.