StockNews.com Lowers Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) to Buy

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Willdan Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WLDN traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $33.78. 42,714 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 62,927. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.84 million, a P/E ratio of 36.32 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.79. Willdan Group has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $34.81.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The construction company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.20. Willdan Group had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The firm had revenue of $122.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Willdan Group will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.01, for a total transaction of $235,177.47. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 413,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,249,195.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Willdan Group news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 86,483 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $2,702,593.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,641,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,289,312.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.01, for a total transaction of $235,177.47. Following the transaction, the director now owns 413,908 shares in the company, valued at $13,249,195.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 460,333 shares of company stock valued at $14,110,383. Corporate insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WLDN. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 9,864 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,107 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,823 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 168.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.