Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 29.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 274,606 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,725 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Itron were worth $27,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITRI. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Itron by 85.6% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Itron by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Itron during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Itron by 315.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $90,607.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,968,943.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $425,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,643,169. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of Itron stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $90,607.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at $20,968,943.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock worth $584,721. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $107.28 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.11 and a 52-week high of $113.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.83.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $609.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $599.25 million. Itron had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 7.98%. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ITRI. TD Cowen raised their price target on Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Itron in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.67.

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.