GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired 26,778 shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO), valued at approximately $2.17 million, increasing its ownership to 0.05% as reported in a 13F filing.
• Exponent's recent earnings report showed $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating estimates, with a revenue of $137.44 million, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 0.2%.
• The company declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend paid to investors on June 20, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.69% with a payout ratio of 58.54%.

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,778 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,171,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned about 0.05% of Exponent as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at $52,381,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at $38,538,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at $12,564,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 88.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 181,921 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,209,000 after acquiring an additional 85,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 1,061.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 85,790 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 78,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.52, for a total transaction of $214,226.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Rakow sold 1,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.72, for a total transaction of $122,253.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,267 shares of company stock worth $489,120 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Exponent Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of EXPO stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.02. 705,060 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 309,542. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $115.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.90.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $130.82 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 18.87%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Exponent Company 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.