Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires 337 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 2.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Itron by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,231 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itron in the third quarter valued at about $103,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its position in Itron by 5.6% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 16,406 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,752,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Itron by 69.2% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Itron by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 155,045 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $16,560,000 after acquiring an additional 18,599 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $3,931,125.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at $21,519,083.08. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ITRI shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Itron in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.92.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $119.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.63 and a 12-month high of $124.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.11 and a 200-day moving average of $105.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.71. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $615.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $596.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.