Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $89.82, but opened at $95.00. Exponent shares last traded at $88.29, with a volume of 145,610 shares traded.

The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Exponent had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 27.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 54.11%.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other news, Director Paul R. Johnston sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.32, for a total transaction of $688,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 59,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,840,797.92. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 15,300 shares of company stock worth $1,538,589 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,806,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $323,535,000 after purchasing an additional 43,257 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Exponent by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,840,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,151,000 after buying an additional 13,644 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $183,388,000 after buying an additional 27,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exponent by 4.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,505,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,597,000 after acquiring an additional 69,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,701,000 after acquiring an additional 245,086 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $92.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60 and a beta of 0.71.

Exponent Company Profile

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.