Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,077 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,677 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $26,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Itron by 611.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 282,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,128,000 after purchasing an additional 243,102 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Itron by 454.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,862 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,363 shares during the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 7,830 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Itron during the 3rd quarter valued at about $350,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Itron by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,940 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $114,835,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the period. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $3,931,125.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,519,083.08. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Itron in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Itron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.92.

Itron Stock Up 1.4 %

Itron stock opened at $110.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $113.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.96. Itron, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.21 and a twelve month high of $124.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $615.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.41 million. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

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.