Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Willdan Group stock opened at $36.14 on Monday. Willdan Group has a 12-month low of $17.09 and a 12-month high of $38.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.35 million, a P/E ratio of 38.86 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.81.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. Willdan Group had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $141.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Willdan Group will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Willdan Group

In other news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.03, for a total transaction of $103,422.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 164,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,100,121.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.03, for a total value of $103,422.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 164,361 shares in the company, valued at $5,100,121.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $27,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,188,209.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 307,179 shares of company stock worth $9,531,433 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the fourth quarter valued at $258,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the fourth quarter valued at $309,000. Rock Point Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 329,475 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,084,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,546 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.