Royal Bank of Canada Trims Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 14.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 178,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,171 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Exponent were worth $11,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Exponent by 423.6% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Exponent by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exponent by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total value of $117,059.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total value of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,504.35. This trade represents a 64.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,324 shares of company stock valued at $855,019 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $66.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.94 and its 200-day moving average is $65.00. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.99 million. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Exponent and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

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.