Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock Rating Upgraded by William Blair

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) was upgraded by research analysts at William Blair from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exponent has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $69.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.43. Exponent has a one year low of $63.81 and a one year high of $101.37.

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

Exponent declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Exponent during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,069,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Exponent in the first quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Martin Currie Ltd. acquired a new position in Exponent in the first quarter valued at approximately $450,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Exponent by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 68,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,528,000 after buying an additional 37,975 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $330,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.