Caxton Associates LLP Increases Stake in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 305.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,866 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP owned 0.06% of Exponent worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 21.7% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Exponent by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Exponent by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Exponent by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 62,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,634,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair upgraded Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exponent has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $73.63 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.62. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 0.82. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $63.81 and a one year high of $97.57.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released 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 firm had revenue of $147.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.78 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 24.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.54%.

Exponent announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,900 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.39, for a total transaction of $344,911.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 83,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,872,567.31. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exponent Profile

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.