Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on WLDN. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush began coverage on Willdan Group in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an outperform rating and a $51.00 target price for the company.

Willdan Group Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:WLDN opened at $40.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $563.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 1.40. Willdan Group has a one year low of $17.09 and a one year high of $41.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.72.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last issued 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 12.06% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $141.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Willdan Group will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Willdan Group

In related news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 750 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total value of $27,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,188,209.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Willdan Group news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total value of $27,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at $6,188,209.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 188,230 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,255,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,585,046.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 218,535 shares of company stock worth $6,739,175. Insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 2,785.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 668,310 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,281,000 after purchasing an additional 645,145 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group during the 1st quarter worth about $12,628,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 374,597 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,860,000 after acquiring an additional 12,056 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 14.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 324,145 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,351,000 after acquiring an additional 41,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 135,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.