Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

WLDN has been the subject of several other research reports. Wedbush assumed coverage on Willdan Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an outperform rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WLDN opened at $40.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $556.27 million, a P/E ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 1.40. Willdan Group has a 1-year low of $17.09 and a 1-year high of $41.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.88. 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 (NASDAQ:WLDN) last released its 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 net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Willdan Group will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Willdan Group news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $364,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,491,065.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Willdan Group news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 188,230 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.93, for a total value of $5,633,723.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,255,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,585,046.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.45, for a total transaction of $364,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 68,342 shares in the company, valued at $2,491,065.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,535 shares of company stock worth $6,739,175 in the last 90 days. 9.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 2,785.0% in the 2nd 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Willdan Group during the first quarter worth $12,628,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Willdan Group by 1,905.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 55,144 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 52,394 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised 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 valued at $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 42,826 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,239,000. 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.