Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $11.57 Million Stock Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 18.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,692 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Exponent worth $11,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 4,466.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 280,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,312,000 after purchasing an additional 274,493 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 3.5% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 691,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,102,000 after purchasing an additional 23,154 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Exponent by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Exponent by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EXPO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.50.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPO opened at $61.44 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.55. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,504.35. The trade was a 64.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total value of $160,973.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,324 shares of company stock worth $855,019. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent 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.