Exponent, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th.

Exponent has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Exponent has a dividend payout ratio of 57.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Exponent to earn $1.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.1%.

Exponent Stock Up 19.5 %

Shares of EXPO traded up $15.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.21. 997,258 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 220,354. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.94. Exponent has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $102.72. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.09 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $137.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.98 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.72% and a return on equity of 28.50%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Exponent will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Guyer sold 3,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.49, for a total transaction of $264,275.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Exponent from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Exponent from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd.

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.