Rhumbline Advisers Buys 1,218 Shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 179,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.35% of Exponent worth $15,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 1.6% during the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,806,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $323,535,000 after acquiring an additional 43,257 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Exponent by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,840,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,151,000 after purchasing an additional 13,644 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Exponent by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $183,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Exponent by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,505,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,597,000 after buying an additional 69,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 63.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,701,000 after buying an additional 245,086 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $84.52 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $75.81 and a one year high of $115.75. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 39.87 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.43 and a 200-day moving average of $99.58.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 19.52%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

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.