Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

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

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WLDN. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Willdan Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Willdan Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Willdan Group in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on Willdan Group in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.33.

Willdan Group Stock Performance

Shares of WLDN traded down $4.63 on Thursday, reaching $66.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 411,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,240. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 1.28. Willdan Group has a 12-month low of $61.51 and a 12-month high of $137.00.

Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The construction company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.12. Willdan Group had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 24.51%. The business had revenue of $214.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.77 million. Research analysts forecast that Willdan Group will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Willdan Group

In other Willdan Group news, Director Thomas Brisbin sold 4,905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.36, for a total transaction of $389,260.80. Following the sale, the director owned 96,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,673,080.32. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,101 shares of company stock valued at $5,871,388. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willdan Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Willdan Group in the second quarter worth $113,795,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Willdan Group by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 550,651 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,572,000 after buying an additional 159,931 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in Willdan Group in the 2nd quarter worth $41,939,611. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Willdan Group by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 308,947 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,652,000 after buying an additional 21,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Willdan Group by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 286,858 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $21,962,000 after buying an additional 49,161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Willdan Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Willdan Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Willdan raised its FY 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.15–$5.25, above the $4.87 consensus estimate. Earnings call transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 contract revenue rose 17.9% to $214.5 million, net revenue increased 18.1% to $112.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 22.4% to $28.3 million. Adjusted EPS of $1.20 topped analyst expectations. Third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Willdan was selected as one of 26 providers for the New York Power Authority’s Energy Services Program, with work available under ten-year contracts as projects are assigned. It also announced engineering work for 643 MW of energy infrastructure projects. NYPA selection Energy infrastructure projects
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s revenue guidance of $435–$445 million was reported against a $746.5 million consensus estimate, a sizable apparent shortfall. The figures may not be directly comparable, so investors may seek clarification on the revenue measure used. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite growth in adjusted EBITDA, net income fell 13.6%, GAAP diluted EPS declined 15.6% to $0.76, and adjusted diluted EPS edged down 0.8% year over year. The weaker bottom-line comparisons may have weighed on investor sentiment. Third-quarter results

About Willdan Group

Willdan Group, Inc (NASDAQ:WLDN) is a professional services company that provides technical, consulting and infrastructure solutions to utilities, government agencies and commercial clients. The company operates primarily in the United States, with a strong presence in California and other markets where energy, infrastructure and public-sector modernization services are in demand.

Through its energy-focused operations, Willdan designs and implements energy-efficiency, demand-response, electrification and distributed-energy programs.