Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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.

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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 19.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Exponent’s payout ratio is 54.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul R. Johnston sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.03, for a total transaction of $123,539.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 59,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,645,352.18. This represents a 2.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 15,300 shares of company stock worth $1,538,589 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exponent

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at about $293,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Exponent by 27.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Exponent by 64.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Exponent during the third quarter worth $60,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Exponent by 10.9% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.91 and a beta of 0.71.

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.