Granite Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,915 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.16% of Exponent worth $5,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 145.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. William Blair raised shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Insider Activity

In other Exponent news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 25,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares in the company, valued at $6,294,036.65. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,808 shares of company stock worth $915,845 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $70.16 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 0.79. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $63.81 and a one year high of $87.88.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.48 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.69%.

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

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.