Virtus Advisers LLC Buys New Holdings 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 bought a new position in Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,700 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 3.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 432,135 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,460,000 after purchasing an additional 51,003 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Willdan Group by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 419,319 shares of the construction company's stock worth $15,972,000 after buying an additional 49,217 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Willdan Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,313,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Willdan Group by 136.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other news, Director Steven A. Cohen sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.34, for a total transaction of $290,850.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 7,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $904,816.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 72,071 shares in the company, valued at $8,399,154.34. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 399,141 shares of company stock valued at $43,089,466 over the last quarter. 8.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Willdan Group Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of WLDN traded down $6.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.86. The stock had a trading volume of 359,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,629. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97 and a beta of 1.31. The business's fifty day moving average is $87.74 and its 200 day moving average is $58.54. Willdan Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.43 and a 52-week high of $121.00.

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.