StockNews.com Lowers Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on ITRI. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Itron from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Itron presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $104.64.

Itron Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $98.96 on Friday. Itron has a 52-week low of $56.11 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.31.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $603.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Itron will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. 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 873 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction of $33,227.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,775 shares of company stock valued at $192,613. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Itron in the first quarter worth $1,900,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth $1,319,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,233,000 after buying an additional 11,918 shares during the period. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth $7,170,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth $1,211,000. 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.