Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WLDN. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Willdan Group in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Willdan Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Willdan Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.67.

Willdan Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WLDN opened at $67.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.79 and its 200 day moving average is $92.19. Willdan Group has a fifty-two week low of $64.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.00.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. Willdan Group had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 8.24%.The business had revenue of $92.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.17 million. Willdan Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.900-5.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Willdan Group will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Willdan Group news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 56,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $5,190,388.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 249,525 shares in the company, valued at $22,851,499.50. The trade was a 18.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Willdan Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Willdan Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $20,188,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 207.1% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 302,380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,237,000 after purchasing an additional 203,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Willdan Group by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,201,517 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $124,549,000 after purchasing an additional 126,247 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Willdan Group by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 237,697 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,640,000 after purchasing an additional 112,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Willdan Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,742,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willdan Group Company Profile

Willdan Group, Inc provides energy efficiency, infrastructure engineering, and technical consulting services to a diverse range of public and private sector clients. The company works with utilities, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and commercial enterprises to design, implement, and manage programs that promote sustainable energy use, grid modernization, and resilient infrastructure. Willdan’s offerings span program design and implementation, energy audits, measurement and verification, and project management for both new construction and retrofit initiatives.

Core services include energy advisory and engineering solutions, including feasibility studies, facility commissioning and retro-commissioning, $0 down financing for energy projects, and demand response program development.