Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $202.15 Million Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Exponent, Inc. by 2.5%, holding approximately $202.15 million worth, making it the firm's 8th largest holding.
• Exponent's CEO, Catherine Corrigan, sold 4,930 shares of the company's stock, resulting in a 5.62% decrease in her ownership.
• The company recently announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend, representing a 1.8% yield and a payout ratio of 60%.

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,705,827 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 70,207 shares during the quarter. Exponent accounts for 3.0% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 5.33% of Exponent worth $202,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXPO. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Exponent during the first quarter worth about $665,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,946 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,677 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 681 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Exponent in the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Exponent presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total transaction of $112,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock worth $1,133,059 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Exponent Price Performance

EXPO stock opened at $67.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.72. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.81 and a 1 year high of $113.36.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $130.82 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 24.19%. The company's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.00%.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EXPO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.