Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $946,000 in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $946,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $166,183,000 after acquiring an additional 31,303 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Exponent by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,154,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,172,000 after purchasing an additional 39,865 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 898,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,399,000 after purchasing an additional 318,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Exponent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,166,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EXPO shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total transaction of $160,973.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total value of $117,059.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,233 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,659. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exponent Price Performance

Exponent stock opened at $60.98 on Monday. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.91 and a 12 month high of $81.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.54. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36 and a beta of 0.72.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $149.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 57.67%.

About Exponent

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.