Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $115.75 and last traded at $115.18, with a volume of 62308 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Exponent Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.02 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.91.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.07. Exponent had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The business had revenue of $132.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Pye sold 3,956 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $415,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,984,310. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Exponent by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 507,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,512,000 after purchasing an additional 20,527 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Exponent in the 3rd quarter worth about $406,000. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 12,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after buying an additional 4,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.