Deutsche Bank AG Buys New Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank acquired 55,970 Exponent shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $3.29 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $81.00; JPMorgan recently raised its target to $90 and assigned an “overweight” rating.
• Exponent exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.60 in EPS and $171.61 million in revenue, up 12% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually.

Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 55,970 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,289,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.12% of Exponent as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Exponent by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Exponent by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Exponent and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities 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.com, Exponent currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,557,278.24. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $70.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.75 and a 200-day moving average of $64.54. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $81.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Exponent's payout ratio 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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