Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $3.93 Million in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 66,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,928,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Exponent as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Exponent by 87,479.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 230,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,999,000 after buying an additional 230,072 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Exponent by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 176,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,253,000 after acquiring an additional 40,359 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,392,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,183,000 after acquiring an additional 31,303 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 114.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 19,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 785.8% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 24,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 21,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $71.53 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.53. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $235,318.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,094,057.10. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Exponent Company 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.