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 Saturday morning.

WLDN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday.

Willdan Group Stock Down 2.1 %

Willdan Group stock opened at $36.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Willdan Group has a 12-month low of $17.09 and a 12-month high of $38.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.28 and its 200 day moving average is $27.55. The company has a market capitalization of $500.84 million, a PE ratio of 38.97 and a beta of 1.38.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 12.27%. The company had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Willdan Group will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 15,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.15, for a total transaction of $516,477.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,524,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,543,606.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Willdan Group news, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 5,267 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $169,386.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 413,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,311,281.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Fund L.P. Forager sold 15,580 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.15, for a total transaction of $516,477.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,524,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,543,606.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 312,812 shares of company stock worth $9,603,631. 9.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 85.6% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 46,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 21,459 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Willdan Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,628,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,283 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willdan Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $309,000. 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.