PGGM Investments Sells 128,434 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

PGGM Investments trimmed its position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 17.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 609,705 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 128,434 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Itron were worth $60,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ITRI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Itron by 32.7% in 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. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Itron by 85.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Itron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 31,458 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 2.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 13,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ITRI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Guggenheim raised Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Itron from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ITRI traded down $0.26 on Wednesday, reaching $96.55. 503,980 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 528,695. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.48. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.11 and a 52 week high of $113.07.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.25. Itron had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Itron’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $54,543.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,930,852.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,542 shares of company stock worth $166,898. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Itron 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.