Summit Creek Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Summit Creek Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the second quarter worth $26,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

EXPO stock opened at $84.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22 and a beta of 0.66. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $90.51.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Exponent had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 34.61%. The company had revenue of $173.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. Exponent’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EXPO. Zacks Research raised Exponent from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Exponent from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Exponent from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Exponent from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total value of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.44, for a total value of $110,643.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,131.52. The trade was a 55.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc is a science and engineering consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risks, and develop solutions. Its consultants work across disciplines including engineering, materials science, biomechanics, human factors, environmental science, health, data sciences, and economics.

The company provides failure analysis, product safety and testing, accident reconstruction, environmental and health assessments, regulatory support, and expert testimony.