Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 20,200 Exponent shares worth approximately $1.19 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 92.37% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is positive overall, with Exponent receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $81; JPMorgan recently raised its target to $90 and assigned an “overweight” rating.
• Exponent reported quarterly EPS of $0.60, beating estimates by $0.05, while revenue rose 12% year over year to $171.61 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, representing a 1.7% annualized yield.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,200 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,187,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in Exponent by 423.6% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 37.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 Exponent and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment 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, Exponent currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $71.53 on Monday. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.91 and a twelve month high of $81.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $64.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.43.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The company had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.61%.

About Exponent

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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