Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys Shares of 35,346 Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 35,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,077,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Exponent by 423.6% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Exponent during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Exponent by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 37.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of EXPO stock opened at $71.53 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.91 and a twelve month high of $81.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.99 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Exponent’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $235,318.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 106,670 shares in the company, valued at $6,094,057.10. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.