Virtus Advisers LLC Invests $191,000 in Willdan Group, Inc. $WLDN

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has invested $191,000 in Willdan Group, acquiring 4,700 shares of the construction company.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Invesco Ltd., have significantly increased their stakes in Willdan Group in recent quarters.
• Willdan Group's stock has received positive ratings from analysts, including upgrades to a "strong-buy" rating by Zacks Research and a price target increase by Roth Capital.

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,700 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Willdan Group during the 1st quarter worth about $10,313,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Willdan Group by 136.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 208,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $7,925,000 after acquiring an additional 119,888 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Willdan Group during the 1st quarter worth about $4,687,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Willdan Group by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 158,401 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,468,000 after acquiring an additional 69,047 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Willdan Group by 277.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 85,515 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 62,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Willdan Group Stock Performance

Shares of WLDN stock opened at $111.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 46.49 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Willdan Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.43 and a 52-week high of $121.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cynthia Downes sold 2,763 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.43, for a total value of $302,355.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $974,911.87. The trade was a 23.67% decrease in their position. 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 Willdan Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.34, for a total value of $290,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,123,612.66. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,823 shares of company stock worth $18,081,688. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLDN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised Willdan Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Willdan Group from $85.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Willdan Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Willdan Group Profile

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.

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