Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO Sells $264,639.30 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares on April 15 for a total of $264,639.30 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her stake to 103,676 shares (a 3.63% decrease).
• Latest quarter beat estimates: Exponent reported $0.49 EPS vs. $0.47 expected and revenue of $147.43M (vs. $128.48M consensus), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 (annualized $1.24, ~1.8% yield).
• Stock and analyst snapshot: shares near $68 with a $3.35B market cap and a 32.8 P/E, while analysts show a consensus of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total transaction of $264,639.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,865.20. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Catherine Corrigan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,912 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.49, for a total transaction of $264,020.88.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00.

Exponent Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.12. 455,689 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,364. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.25 and a fifty-two week high of $83.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75 and a beta of 0.80.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The company had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Exponent's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Exponent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exponent by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,392,499 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $166,183,000 after buying an additional 31,303 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Exponent by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,154,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $80,172,000 after acquiring an additional 39,865 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Exponent by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $62,419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Exponent by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 898,343 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $62,399,000 after acquiring an additional 318,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXPO. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.00.

Exponent Company 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.

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