Short Interest in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) Declines By 7.7%

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a drop of 7.7% from the August 15th total of 1,680,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

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 value of $415,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 28,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,984,310. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Exponent by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 477,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,025,000 after purchasing an additional 10,398 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Exponent by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 197,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 3,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 4th quarter valued at $45,786,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of EXPO stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $110.65. 33,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,773. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.80 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.24. Exponent has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $111.62.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $132.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.83 million. Exponent had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 28.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Exponent will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Exponent’s payout ratio is 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Exponent Company Profile

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.