Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases 36,815 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired an additional 36,815 shares of Exponent, Inc. during the 1st quarter, increasing its holdings by 418.5% to a total of 45,611 shares, valued at approximately $3.7 million.
• Exponent reported earnings of $0.52 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and its revenue grew 7.3% year-over-year to $132.87 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.20 with a yield of 1.7%, set to be paid on September 19th.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 418.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,611 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 36,815 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned about 0.09% of Exponent worth $3,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 10,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 5,333.3% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 859.1% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 633 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 681 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exponent in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total transaction of $348,056.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,782,602.78. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total value of $112,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of EXPO stock traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.42. The company had a trading volume of 365,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,063. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.27 and a 200 day moving average of $76.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.94. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.81 and a 1-year high of $115.75.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Exponent Profile

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.