Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) Stake Trimmed by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) by 16.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.14% of Willdan Group worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WLDN. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Willdan Group by 168.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the first quarter valued at $90,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 82.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,080 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 73.6% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WLDN shares. Wedbush started coverage on Willdan Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Willdan Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Willdan Group from $34.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Willdan Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WLDN opened at $40.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $570.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.86 and a beta of 1.40. Willdan Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.09 and a 1 year high of $41.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.25.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The construction company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $141.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.07 million. Willdan Group had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 3.10%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Willdan Group, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willdan Group

In other news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total transaction of $27,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,188,209.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Willdan Group news, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 9,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.36, for a total value of $334,839.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 169,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,171,237.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.46, for a total value of $27,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,188,209.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,535 shares of company stock worth $6,739,175 over the last ninety days. 9.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.