Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WLDN. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Willdan Group from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th.

Willdan Group Stock Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $17.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.70 and a 200-day moving average of $16.94. The company has a market cap of $242.28 million, a P/E ratio of -64.14 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Willdan Group has a one year low of $10.98 and a one year high of $29.71.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The construction company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $113.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.26 million. Willdan Group had a negative net margin of 0.85% and a positive return on equity of 4.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that Willdan Group will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, CEO Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $42,712.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 390,004 shares in the company, valued at $6,392,165.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Willdan Group news, CEO Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $42,712.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 390,004 shares in the company, valued at $6,392,165.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Michael A. Bieber sold 2,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $46,744.28. Following the transaction, the president now owns 135,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,961.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,255 shares of company stock worth $238,265. 10.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLDN. Forager Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Willdan Group by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Forager Capital Management LLC now owns 1,847,218 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,065,000 after purchasing an additional 290,748 shares in the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC raised its stake in Willdan Group by 57.7% in the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 325,597 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 119,160 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Willdan Group by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,690,216 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,264,000 after purchasing an additional 105,723 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Willdan Group by 241.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,175 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,811,000 after purchasing an additional 87,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Willdan Group by 342.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 88,423 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 68,444 shares in the last quarter. 78.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willdan Group Company Profile

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Willdan Group, Inc engages in the provision of technical and consulting services. It operates through the Energy and the Engineering and Consulting segments. The Energy segment offers energy and sustainability consulting services to utilities, public agencies and private industry. The Engineering and Consulting segment provides civil engineering-related construction management, building and safety, city engineering office management, city planning, civil design, geotechnical, material testing and other engineering consulting services.