Short Interest in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Expands By 8.4%

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,610,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the July 31st total of 3,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 669,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $51,994.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,389,326.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $90,607.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,968,943.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $51,994.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at $7,389,326.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $584,721. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in Itron by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,133,000 after buying an additional 10,542 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Itron in the 1st quarter worth about $2,002,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Itron in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Itron during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,029,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Itron by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI opened at $102.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. Itron has a 1-year low of $56.11 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.25. Itron had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $599.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Itron will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ITRI. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Itron in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.20.

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.