Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Bought by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Key Points

• Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its Exponent stake by 14.7% in Q4, buying 71,178 shares to hold 554,193 shares (about 1.11% of the company) valued at roughly $38.5 million.
• Exponent beat quarterly expectations, posting $0.49 EPS versus a $0.47 consensus and $147.4M in revenue (vs. $128.5M est.), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 (annualized $1.24, ~1.9% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 9,583 shares worth $687,709 in the last 90 days (including sales by CEO Catherine Corrigan and VP John Pye), leaving insiders with about 1.6% ownership.

Riverbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 554,193 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 71,178 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned approximately 1.11% of Exponent worth $38,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in Exponent by 33.9% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,627 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Exponent by 1.1% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,984 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 4.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,070 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Exponent by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring 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 Exponent news, 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 transaction of $263,228.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,583 shares of company stock worth $687,709 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exponent Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $65.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.66. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $83.92.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Exponent had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The firm had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.48 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Exponent's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Exponent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Exponent's payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on EXPO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

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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