Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WLDN. Roth Mkm raised their price objective 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. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Tuesday. They issued an outperform rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $37.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $525.88 million, a P/E ratio of 40.42 and a beta of 1.40. 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 1-year low of $17.09 and a 1-year high of $40.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.47.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $141.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.07 million. Willdan Group had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Willdan Group will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 6,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total transaction of $195,274.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,613,977. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total transaction of $27,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,188,209.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 6,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total transaction of $195,274.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,613,977. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 256,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,890,685 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% during the first 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,823 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willdan Group during the second quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

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.