Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC purchased 24,373 shares of Exponent, Inc. for approximately $1,976,000, reflecting growing institutional interest in the stock during Q1.
• Exponent's CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,896 shares, resulting in a 5.68% decrease in her holdings, while insiders collectively hold 1.60% of the company's stock.
• The company reported strong earnings with $0.52 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,373 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,976,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in 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 valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Exponent by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Exponent by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Exponent by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,200 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC boosted its stake in Exponent by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 3,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Exponent Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:EXPO traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.85. 479,853 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,995. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.93 and a beta of 0.94. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $115.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%.The company had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Exponent's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In other news, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total transaction of $112,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,896 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total value of $348,056.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,342 shares in the company, valued at $5,782,602.78. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.