Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WLDN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 320,400 shares, a decrease of 19.1% from the December 31st total of 396,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 163,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Willdan Group

In related news, Director Thomas Donald Brisbin sold 7,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.45, for a total transaction of $334,565.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 406,704 shares in the company, valued at $17,671,288.80. This represents a 1.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael A. Bieber sold 1,804 shares of Willdan Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.86, for a total value of $82,731.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 173,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,963,772.44. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,787 shares of company stock valued at $936,061. 9.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willdan Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLDN. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Willdan Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,159 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Willdan Group by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,354 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 16,832 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Willdan Group by 341.2% during the fourth quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 37,910 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 29,318 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Willdan Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,390 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Willdan Group by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,673 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WLDN. StockNews.com cut shares of Willdan Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Willdan Group Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:WLDN traded down $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $36.40. 93,902 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 95,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Willdan Group has a 52 week low of $18.37 and a 52 week high of $50.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $513.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50-day moving average price is $39.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.72.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The construction company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $158.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.70 million. Willdan Group had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 13.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Willdan Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.