Wasatch Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Willdan Group, Inc. $WLDN

Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) by 45.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,581 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,110 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 2.59% of Willdan Group worth $29,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,201,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $124,549,000 after purchasing an additional 126,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Willdan Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 343,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,561,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Willdan Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 305,845 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,704,000 after buying an additional 6,523 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Willdan Group by 207.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 302,380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,237,000 after buying an additional 203,912 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Willdan Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 287,278 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,785,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLDN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush assumed coverage on Willdan Group in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Willdan Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Willdan Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Willdan Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.67.

Willdan Group Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:WLDN opened at $81.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 1.11. Willdan Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.85 and a fifty-two week high of $137.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The construction company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. Willdan Group had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Willdan Group, Inc. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $5,190,388.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 249,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,851,499.50. The trade was a 18.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Willdan Group 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.