Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Climb 7.6% – What’s Next?

Shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) rose 7.6% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $70.53 and last traded at $70.4050. 482,317 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 511,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Exponent Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.86.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The firm had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Exponent by 423.6% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Company Profile

Exponent, Inc is an engineering and scientific consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risk, and improve the safety and performance of products, systems, and structures. Its multidisciplinary consulting services support legal, insurance, industrial, government, and other organizational clients.

The company’s services include failure analysis, accident reconstruction, product safety and testing, materials and corrosion analysis, environmental and human health assessments, biomechanics, human factors, electrical and electronic systems analysis, civil and structural engineering, and data sciences.