Creative Planning Boosts Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Creative Planning boosted its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Exponent were worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,791,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $388,419,000 after purchasing an additional 55,190 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Exponent by 7.6% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,288,000 after buying an additional 131,937 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Exponent by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,597,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,360,000 after acquiring an additional 21,272 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 596,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,442,000 after acquiring an additional 89,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 312,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of EXPO opened at $72.57 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.05 and its 200 day moving average is $72.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 0.91. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $99.94.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.78 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.54%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPO has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair upgraded Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated 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 one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.39, for a total value of $344,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 83,429 shares in the company, valued at $5,872,567.31. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,735 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,242. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.