Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 52,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Exponent by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Exponent by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Exponent by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Exponent Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $71.15 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.91 and a twelve month high of $81.95. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.03 and its 200 day moving average is $64.48.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.