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

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

WLDN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Willdan Group Price Performance

WLDN traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.01. 104,205 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 84,844. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Willdan Group has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $41.54. The company has a market cap of $566.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.10 and a beta of 1.40.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 EPS 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 company had revenue of $141.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Willdan Group will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 188,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.93, for a total transaction of $5,633,723.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,255,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,585,046.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total value of $364,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,342 shares in the company, valued at $2,491,065.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 188,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.93, for a total transaction of $5,633,723.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,255,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,585,046.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,535 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,175 over the last quarter. 9.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLDN. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in Willdan Group by 85.6% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 46,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 21,459 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Willdan Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,628,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,239,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Willdan Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $707,000. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 2,785.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 668,310 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,281,000 after acquiring an additional 645,145 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.