Short Interest in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) Decreases By 10.2%

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, a drop of 10.2% from the August 15th total of 1,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 224,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Steven J. Murray sold 1,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.77, for a total transaction of $86,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 28,412 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,309.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter worth $7,927,000. Acrisure Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter worth $306,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Exponent by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 246,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,547,000 after purchasing an additional 12,797 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 30,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.31% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of EXPO stock traded down $0.92 on Monday, reaching $90.92. The stock had a trading volume of 184,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,085. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.15 and a beta of 0.61. Exponent has a 1 year low of $85.27 and a 1 year high of $112.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.67.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $129.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.40 million. Exponent had a net margin of 19.03% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Exponent from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 31st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Exponent in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.50.

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.