Vest Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Key Points

• Vest Financial raised its stake in Exponent by 69.4% in Q4 to 62,350 shares (about $4.33M), representing roughly 0.12% of the company.
• Exponent beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.49 (vs. $0.47 est.) and revenue of $147.43M (vs. $128.48M), and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.31 (annualized $1.24, ~1.9% yield).
• Insiders sold 15,741 shares in the past 90 days (~$1.10M) and now own 1.6% of the stock, while institutional investors hold 92.37%; analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $90.

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,350 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,537 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.12% of Exponent worth $4,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EXPO. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Exponent by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 733,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,953,000 after acquiring an additional 4,695 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 705,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,980,000 after purchasing an additional 109,160 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Exponent by 15.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 645,726 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,242,000 after buying an additional 88,350 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 334,154 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 2.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 566,438 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,356,000 after acquiring an additional 11,705 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exponent presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.00.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In other news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 25,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total transaction of $264,639.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,018,865.20. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,741 shares of company stock worth $1,095,768. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Exponent Stock Down 1.1%

Exponent stock opened at $66.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.80. Exponent, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.25 and a 52 week high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.48 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Exponent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.62%.

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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