Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI – Get Rating) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 712 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Itron were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in Itron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,741,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Itron by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 622,483 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,793,000 after purchasing an additional 435,870 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Itron during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,588,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Itron by 216.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 290,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $15,296,000 after purchasing an additional 198,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Itron by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 518,833 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,848,000 after purchasing an additional 191,775 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Itron Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $67.92 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.38 and a 12-month high of $69.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.84 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.76.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.38. Itron had a positive return on equity of 5.88% and a negative net margin of 1.24%. The business had revenue of $494.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $464.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ITRI shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Itron from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Itron from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $53.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Itron in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Itron in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Cowen boosted their price target on Itron from $55.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.64, for a total transaction of $74,168.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,104,744.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Itron news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 903 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $50,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,726.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.64, for a total value of $74,168.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,104,744.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,365 shares of company stock worth $512,453. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Itron Company Profile

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Itron, Inc is a technology and services company, which engages in the provision of solutions that measure, manage, and analyze energy and water use. It operates through the following segments: Device Solutions, Networked Solutions, and Outcomes. The Device Solutions segment includes hardware products used for measurement, control, or sensing that do not have communications capability embedded for use with its broader Itron systems.