Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Increases Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,195 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 17,539 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Itron were worth $4,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITRI. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Itron in the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens upped 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Itron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.18.

Itron Trading Down 0.1 %

ITRI stock opened at $102.86 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Itron, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.11 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.47.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The firm had revenue of $603.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $54,543.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,930,852.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $54,543.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,930,852.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,775 shares of company stock worth $192,613 in the last 90 days. 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.