Granite Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Granite Investment Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 63.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 130,027 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 423.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Exponent by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned 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 price target of $77.50.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares in the company, valued at $63,504.35. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total value of $160,973.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,233 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,659. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $60.95 on Thursday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.28. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35 and a beta of 0.72.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. Exponent’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.67%.

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.