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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Willdan Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an outperform rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $40.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $556.27 million, a P/E ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.88. Willdan Group has a one year low of $17.09 and a one year high of $41.54.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willdan Group will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,255,765 shares in the company, valued at $37,585,046.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Willdan Group news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 188,230 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,255,765 shares in the company, valued at $37,585,046.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 10,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $378,767.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,213,668.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 218,535 shares of company stock worth $6,739,175. Corporate insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLDN. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Willdan Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 168.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the first quarter worth $90,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 82.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,080 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 73.6% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.