Saturna Capital Corp Sells 2,794 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Saturna Capital Corp lessened its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,794 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Exponent were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Exponent by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 62,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,634,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Exponent by 10,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in Exponent by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 82,753 shares in the company, valued at $5,529,555.46. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 14,735 shares of company stock worth $1,017,242 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exponent Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $68.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.31. Exponent, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.81 and a 52 week high of $101.37.

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

Exponent declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.