Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 109,160 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 705,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,160 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 1.40% of Exponent worth $48,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPO. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 33.9% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 4.5% during the third quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 4.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Exponent Price Performance

EXPO stock opened at $74.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22 and a beta of 0.81. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $97.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.49 and a 200-day moving average of $71.04.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.78 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.77% and a net margin of 18.35%.Exponent’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Exponent’s payout ratio is 58.54%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,663 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $120,600.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,724,271.96. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,788 shares of company stock valued at $693,648. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Exponent

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.