Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) Short Interest Update

Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 320,400 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the December 31st total of 396,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 163,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WLDN. StockNews.com lowered Willdan Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Willdan Group Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WLDN opened at $36.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $520.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.64 and a 200-day moving average of $39.72. Willdan Group has a 1-year low of $18.37 and a 1-year high of $50.00.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.15. Willdan Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 3.97%. The firm had revenue of $158.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Willdan Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 1,804 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.86, for a total transaction of $82,731.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,963,772.44. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,700 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.69, for a total transaction of $321,013.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 422,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,597,515.76. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,787 shares of company stock worth $936,061. Insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLDN. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,608,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Willdan Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 294,797 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Willdan Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 240,265 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 6,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 155,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,378,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. 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.