Huntington National Bank Sells 776 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Huntington National Bank trimmed its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 776 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Exponent were worth $444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 312,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Exponent by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its stake in Exponent by 11.2% in the second quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 89,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,681,000 after buying an additional 8,990 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Exponent by 7.6% in the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,288,000 after acquiring an additional 131,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Exponent by 0.4% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 62,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,634,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total value of $329,422.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total value of $112,670.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 16,326 shares of company stock worth $1,133,059 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $71.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.88. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 0.91. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $107.41.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%.The firm had revenue of $137.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.78 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 58.54%.

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.