Catherine Corrigan Sells 1,663 Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $120,600.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,724,271.96. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Catherine Corrigan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 15th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,225 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $228,136.50.
• On Monday, November 17th, Catherine Corrigan sold 4,900 shares of Exponent stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.39, for a total transaction of $344,911.00.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $74.93 on Thursday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.81 and a 1 year high of $97.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55 and a beta of 0.81.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.77% and a net margin of 18.35%.The business had revenue of $147.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.78 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair raised shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Exponent in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exponent by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 33.9% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 4.5% during the third quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 1.1% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 4.4% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

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.