Key Points
- CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of Exponent stock on May 15 at an average price of $54.06, for total proceeds of about $226,728. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
- Exponent reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $0.59 versus the $0.56 consensus and revenue of $166.3 million, up 14.3% year over year. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 2.28.
- The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, payable June 18, which equates to an annualized yield of about 2.3%. Meanwhile, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $77.50.
Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total transaction of $226,727.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 105,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,688,085.08. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Catherine Corrigan also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Monday, March 16th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,912 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.49, for a total transaction of $264,020.88.
- On Wednesday, April 15th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total transaction of $264,639.30.
- On Tuesday, February 17th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00.
Exponent Stock Performance
Shares of Exponent stock opened at $53.79 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $65.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.74.
Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Exponent's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Exponent Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.67%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
EXPO has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.50.
Read Our Latest Research Report on EXPO
Institutional Trading of Exponent
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,392,499 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $166,183,000 after acquiring an additional 31,303 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,154,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $80,172,000 after acquiring an additional 39,865 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 7.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 964,814 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $62,954,000 after acquiring an additional 66,471 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 918,885 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $59,958,000 after acquiring an additional 20,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,166,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.
About Exponent
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
