Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Acquired by Summitry LLC

Summitry LLC increased its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 29.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Summitry LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPO. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Exponent by 543.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 305,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,742,000 after acquiring an additional 257,766 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,349,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,828 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $141,517,000 after purchasing an additional 176,152 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the first quarter valued at about $12,686,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Exponent during the second quarter worth about $9,993,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPO opened at $69.94 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97 and a beta of 0.91. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $101.37.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 24.19%. The business had revenue of $147.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Exponent declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,529,555.46. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.