Raymond James & Associates Increases Stock Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 51.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,621 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,208 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Itron were worth $3,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Itron by 1.4% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,430 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Itron by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Itron by 0.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its position in Itron by 2.0% during the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 9,275 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Itron by 2.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded Itron from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Raymond James downgraded Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Itron from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.60.

Itron Price Performance

NASDAQ ITRI opened at $91.44 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a one year low of $50.60 and a one year high of $96.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.27 and a 200 day moving average of $73.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.54, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.48. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The company had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $117,577.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,827.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $117,577.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,141 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,827.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.