Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 27,692 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 177,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,692 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Exponent were worth $11,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Exponent by 87,479.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 230,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,999,000 after purchasing an additional 230,072 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Exponent by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 554,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,494,000 after purchasing an additional 71,178 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Exponent by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 62,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after purchasing an additional 25,537 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Exponent by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 176,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,253,000 after purchasing an additional 40,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Exponent by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,392,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,183,000 after buying an additional 31,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In related news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,504.35. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total transaction of $117,059.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 15,324 shares of company stock valued at $855,019 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exponent Price Performance

EXPO stock opened at $61.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 0.72. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.25 and a 200-day moving average of $65.55.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.Exponent’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EXPO shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exponent has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

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.