Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Exponent shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $66.05 before closing at $65.42, up 1.4%. The stock’s 200-day average was $63.86.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $81; JPMorgan recently raised its target to $90, while UBS maintained a neutral rating at $72.
• Exponent exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.60 versus $0.55 expected and revenue of $171.61 million, up 12% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, yielding approximately 1.9%.

Shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $63.86 and traded as high as $66.05. Exponent shares last traded at $65.42, with a volume of 678,175 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on shares of Exponent and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.00.

Exponent Stock Up 1.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34 and a beta of 0.68. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $67.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.86.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The company had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Exponent's payout ratio is 55.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXPO. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Exponent during the second quarter worth $522,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in Exponent by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 23,105 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,856 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in Exponent by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 7,035 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Exponent by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,815 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Exponent by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,134 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc is a multidisciplinary engineering and scientific consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risk and improve the safety, performance and reliability of products, systems and operations. Its work commonly involves failure analysis, accident reconstruction, product liability, materials and structures, biomechanics, environmental sciences and health, and human factors.

The company provides consulting, testing, research and expert-witness services to businesses, insurers, law firms and government agencies.

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