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

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $120,600.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,724,271.96. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 value of $344,911.00.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of EXPO stock traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.39. The company had a trading volume of 227,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,001. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80 and a beta of 0.81. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $97.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.99.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.78 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.77% and a net margin of 18.35%.The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

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

Exponent announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Exponent

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Exponent in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Exponent during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other 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.