The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 43,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,572,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.09% of Exponent at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth $363,428,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Exponent by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,154,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,172,000 after acquiring an additional 39,865 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 964,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,954,000 after acquiring an additional 66,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 918,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,958,000 after acquiring an additional 20,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXPO opened at $70.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.13 and its 200 day moving average is $64.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40 and a beta of 0.68. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $171.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. Exponent’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total value of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.