Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, July 19th. They presently have a $75.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $69.00. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock’s current price. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Exponent’s FY2017 earnings at $1.96 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $2.09 EPS.
The analysts wrote, “Foresi’s Take. Exponent posted strong revenue growth in the mid-double digits as recent headwinds have begun to subside and the company saw strength in multiple business lines. Lingering headwinds in a couple of areas were more than offset by strong quarters in biomedical, construction consulting, electrical engineering and polymer science practices, and work at a large human factors assessment project for a client in the consumer products industry. The automotive business still faced some challenges, but returned to growth, driven by work on new transportation technologies.””
A number of other research firms also recently commented on EXPO. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Exponent from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. BidaskClub downgraded Exponent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 20th.
Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ EXPO) traded down 0.23% on Wednesday, reaching $64.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 45,814 shares. Exponent has a 12-month low of $48.42 and a 12-month high of $68.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 0.62.
Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $84.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.30 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 16.52% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Exponent will post $1.97 EPS for the current year.
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In related news, CEO Paul R. Johnston sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.28, for a total transaction of $326,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 66,335 shares in the company, valued at $4,330,348.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Pye sold 3,600 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $234,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,036.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,855 shares of company stock worth $2,425,402 in the last three months. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverhead Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 89.7% in the second quarter. Riverhead Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Advisor Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 15.4% in the second quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 9.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 90.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Exponent
Exponent, Inc (Exponent), along with its subsidiaries, is a science and engineering consulting company. Exponent provides engineering and scientific consulting services to clients around the world. Its service offerings are provided on a project-by-project basis. It operates in two segments: Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health.
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