Short Interest in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) Declines By 11.1%

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a decrease of 11.1% from the September 15th total of 1,710,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 196,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXPO traded down $1.34 on Thursday, hitting $113.19. 40,980 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,513. Exponent has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $115.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.84 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.81.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Pye sold 3,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $415,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,984,310. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXPO. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Exponent during the 1st quarter valued at $25,904,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Exponent by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,286,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,153,000 after buying an additional 291,047 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,640,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $441,414,000 after buying an additional 284,179 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,050,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,763,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,841,000 after acquiring an additional 75,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Exponent in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

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.