Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.60.

A number of research firms recently commented on ITRI. Raymond James lowered shares of Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. TheStreet raised shares of Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Itron from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Itron Price Performance

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $89.68 on Friday. Itron has a 52-week low of $50.60 and a 52-week high of $96.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.80.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $577.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.90 million. Itron had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Itron will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In other Itron news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.02, for a total transaction of $45,692.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,185.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total transaction of $1,418,844.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Itron by 32.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Itron by 61.5% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Itron by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 31,458 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Itron by 1.4% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,430 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Itron by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

About Itron

Itron, Inc, a technology, solutions, and service company, provides end-to-end solutions that help manage energy, water, and smart city operations worldwide. It operates in three segments: Device Solutions, Networked Solutions, and Outcomes. The Device Solutions segment offers hardware products that are used for measurement, control, or sensing, such as standard gas, electricity, water, and communicating meters, as well as heat and allocation products.