Evergreen Capital Management LLC Takes $770,000 Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $770,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Exponent by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Exponent by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Exponent by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of EXPO opened at $65.88 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.25 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.80.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Exponent had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The business had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Exponent’s payout ratio is 59.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPO has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total transaction of $264,639.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,018,865.20. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,914,747.88. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,741 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,768. Insiders own 1.60% 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.