Zacks Research Upgrades Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Willdan Group has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating by Zacks Research, indicating increased confidence from analysts in the company's stock performance.
• Research firm Roth Capital raised its price target for Willdan Group shares significantly from $62.00 to $103.00, while Wedbush also increased theirs to $120.00.
• Insider trading activity shows that directors have recently sold a considerable number of shares, including a sale of over 130,000 shares by Director Thomas Donald Brisbin for approximately $14.27 million.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, August 21st,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on WLDN. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $103.00 price target (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their price target on Willdan Group from $85.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Willdan Group has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.50.

Willdan Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WLDN traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $117.07. The company had a trading volume of 178,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,183. Willdan Group has a 52 week low of $30.43 and a 52 week high of $121.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.98 and a beta of 1.31.

Insider Activity at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, CFO Creighton K. Early sold 7,764 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $904,816.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 72,071 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,399,154.34. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven A. Cohen sold 2,500 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.34, for a total value of $290,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,849 shares in the company, valued at $3,123,612.66. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 399,141 shares of company stock worth $43,089,466 in the last quarter. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,188,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,313,000. 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,687,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,807,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willdan Group Company 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.