Wedbush Reiterates "Outperform" Rating for Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN)

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed its “Outperform” rating on Willdan Group and set a $130 price target, implying 64.16% upside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with an average target of $127.50.
• Willdan shares fell 2.7% to $79.19 in Wednesday trading. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.07, exceeding the $1.30 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $231.03 million.
• Insider selling totaled about $5.87 million over the past 90 days, including a director’s sale of 58,757 shares. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company and several major funds recently increased or initiated positions.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $130.00 price target on the construction company's stock. Wedbush's price objective suggests a potential upside of 64.16% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WLDN. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Willdan Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Willdan Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willdan Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $127.50.

Willdan Group Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of WLDN stock traded down $2.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,872. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.19. Willdan Group has a one year low of $64.67 and a one year high of $137.00.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The construction company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $231.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.27 million. Willdan Group had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 24.51%. Willdan Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Willdan Group will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, Director Thomas Brisbin sold 58,757 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.14, for a total transaction of $5,178,841.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 96,687 shares in the company, valued at $8,521,992.18. This represents a 37.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 67,101 shares of company stock valued at $5,871,388 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Willdan Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 308,947 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,652,000 after acquiring an additional 21,669 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 191,532 shares of the construction company's stock worth $15,150,000 after acquiring an additional 48,876 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 35.4% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 236,700 shares of the construction company's stock worth $18,122,000 after acquiring an additional 61,900 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the second quarter worth about $21,768,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the second quarter worth about $4,408,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc NASDAQ: WLDN is a professional, technical and consulting services company that helps utilities, government agencies and commercial organizations plan, develop and implement infrastructure and energy-related projects. Founded in 1964, the company serves clients primarily throughout the United States.

Willdan's energy services include the design and administration of energy-efficiency and demand-response programs, electrification initiatives, distributed energy-resource projects, renewable-energy programs and grid-modernization efforts.