Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $1.10 Million Investment in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 423.6% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Exponent during the second quarter worth $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Exponent by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Exponent by 37.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exponent Price Performance

EXPO opened at $71.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.48. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.91 and a 1-year high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 31.48% and a net margin of 17.67%.Exponent’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Exponent and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $235,318.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 106,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,094,057.10. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.