New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors dramatically increased its position in Exponent, boosting its stake by 785.8% in the fourth quarter to 24,775 shares worth about $1.72 million.
• Exponent’s fundamentals were solid in the latest quarter, with earnings of $0.59 per share beating estimates and revenue of $166.3 million also topping expectations, while revenue rose 14.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $77.50.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 785.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,775 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,978 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Exponent were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total value of $114,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,504.35. The trade was a 64.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total value of $117,059.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,026 shares of company stock valued at $1,148,361. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exponent Stock Performance

EXPO opened at $57.08 on Thursday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $63.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.55 and a beta of 0.78.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. Exponent's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EXPO. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.50.

Exponent Profile

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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