Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Short Interest Update

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the May 31st total of 1,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 522,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.64.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $99.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.72. 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 has a 12-month low of $56.11 and a 12-month high of $111.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Itron

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,237.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,775 shares of company stock worth $192,613. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Itron

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Itron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 61.5% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Itron in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Itron in the 4th quarter worth about $81,000. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Itron

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.