Comerica Bank Acquires 59,903 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Exponent by 23.6%, buying 59,903 shares to hold 314,203 shares valued at about $21.8 million (≈0.63% of the company) at quarter-end.
• Financials and payout: Exponent beat Q results (EPS $0.49 vs. $0.47 expected; revenue $147.4M vs. $128.5M expected) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 (annualized $1.24, yield 1.9%).
• Insider activity: Senior insiders sold shares recently (VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares at $75.97; CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 at $67.15), with insiders disposing 15,741 shares worth about $1.10M last quarter while insiders own 1.60% and institutions own 92.37% of the stock.

Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,203 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,903 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned about 0.63% of Exponent worth $21,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Exponent by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Exponent by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,747.88. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total value of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,294,036.65. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,741 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,768. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EXPO. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $66.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.33. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $63.25 and a one year high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $128.48 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Exponent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.62%.

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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