Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $109.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $103.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on ITRI. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised Itron from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itron presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $104.18.

Itron Price Performance

NASDAQ:ITRI traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $107.37. 700,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,584. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.64. Itron has a 52-week low of $56.11 and a 52-week high of $108.60. The company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The firm had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Itron will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other Itron news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 3,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.02, for a total transaction of $305,190.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 198,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,067,287.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Itron by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Itron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in Itron during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Itron Company Profile

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.