Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Coverage Initiated at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Janney Montgomery Scott’s target price points to a potential upside of 27.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ITRI. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Itron in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim raised Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Itron in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Itron from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.67.

Itron Trading Down 0.0 %

ITRI stock opened at $103.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.73. Itron has a fifty-two week low of $56.11 and a fifty-two week high of $113.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 3.16.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $609.07 million for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Itron will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Itron in the first quarter worth $2,002,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in Itron during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Itron in the first quarter valued at about $2,029,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Itron by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth about $904,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% 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.