Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Separately, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Willdan Group in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Willdan Group Stock Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $32.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.83 and a 200-day moving average of $39.76. The company has a market cap of $454.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Willdan Group has a 52 week low of $19.70 and a 52 week high of $50.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total transaction of $334,565.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 406,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,671,288.80. This represents a 1.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 4,349 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $187,572.37. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,982,266.98. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,283 shares of company stock valued at $532,316. Company insiders own 9.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Willdan Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,608,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 2,934.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 175,334 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,678,000 after purchasing an additional 169,555 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 136.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 208,059 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,925,000 after buying an additional 119,888 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Willdan Group during the third quarter worth $2,970,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in Willdan Group in the 4th quarter valued at $2,389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.