Truist Financial Corp Cuts Stake in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its stake in Exponent by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, while institutional ownership remains very high at 92.37% of the stock.
• Exponent reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.59 versus $0.56 expected and revenue of $166.3 million versus $149.53 million forecast, with revenue up 14.3% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, but UBS and JPMorgan both trimmed price targets, and the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share.

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,989 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 26,980 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.07% of Exponent worth $2,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPO. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Exponent in the third quarter valued at about $29,780,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Exponent by 135.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 580,134 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,308,000 after acquiring an additional 334,154 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Exponent by 49.9% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 501,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,448,000 after acquiring an additional 166,930 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Exponent by 1,481.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 119,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 18.3% during the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 705,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Insider Activity

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total value of $263,228.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,294,036.65. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 11,741 shares of company stock valued at $791,888 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXPO opened at $57.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 0.78. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.09 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $66.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.The firm's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

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

Exponent Company 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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