Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stake in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 178,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,171 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.37% of Exponent worth $11,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Exponent during the first quarter worth approximately $270,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Exponent by 1,481.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 119,175 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Exponent by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 554,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,444,000 after purchasing an additional 17,930 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth about $18,377,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $66.79 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $81.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $171.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Exponent’s payout ratio is 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,504.35. The trade was a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total value of $226,727.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 105,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,688,085.08. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,324 shares of company stock worth $855,019. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Exponent and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exponent has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

Exponent Profile

Exponent, Inc (NASDAQ: EXPO) is an engineering and scientific consulting firm that offers multidisciplinary analysis and advisory services to clients across a range of industries. The company’s expertise spans mechanical, materials and corrosion engineering, civil and structural engineering, electrical engineering, industrial hygiene, toxicology and health sciences, and failure analysis. Exponent provides support for product design, performance evaluation, litigation consulting, and regulatory compliance, helping manufacturers, insurers, law firms and government agencies address complex technical challenges.

Founded in 1967 in Menlo Park, California, Exponent has grown from a small failure-analysis laboratory into a global consulting practice.