Militia Capital Partners LP Takes Position in Willdan Group, Inc. $WLDN

Key Points

• Militia Capital Partners LP has acquired 16,000 shares in Willdan Group, Inc. during the 1st quarter, increasing their ownership to 0.11% of the company, valued at approximately $652,000.
• Various institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have significantly increased their stakes in Willdan Group, with 72.29% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have upgraded Willdan Group's stock rating, with price targets set between $103.00 and $120.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $111.50.

Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,000 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $652,000. Militia Capital Partners LP owned 0.11% of Willdan Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WLDN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Willdan Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 774,212 shares of the construction company's stock worth $31,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Willdan Group during the first quarter worth $10,313,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Willdan Group by 35.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 214,421 shares of the construction company's stock worth $8,731,000 after acquiring an additional 55,704 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Willdan Group by 136.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 208,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $7,925,000 after buying an additional 119,888 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Willdan Group by 77.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 158,401 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,468,000 after buying an additional 69,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WLDN shares. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Willdan Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Willdan Group from $85.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Willdan Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other news, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 5,182 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.15, for a total transaction of $612,253.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,696 shares in the company, valued at $8,352,732.40. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven A. Cohen sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.34, for a total transaction of $290,850.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,849 shares in the company, valued at $3,123,612.66. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 399,141 shares of company stock worth $43,089,466 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company's stock.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of WLDN traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $101.57. 84,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 243,177. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.26. Willdan Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.43 and a fifty-two week high of $121.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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.