Covestor Ltd Acquires 111 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 26.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Itron were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ITRI. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Itron in the 1st quarter valued at $2,029,000. Sculptor Capital LP bought a new position in Itron in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,255,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Itron in the 1st quarter valued at $904,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Itron by 113.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,988 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after buying an additional 16,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Itron by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 268,379 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,559,000 after buying an additional 19,387 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ITRI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Itron in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Itron in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Itron in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.92.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of Itron stock opened at $117.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.46. Itron, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.96 and a 12 month high of $124.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.22.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $615.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.41 million. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $3,931,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,519,083.08. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $51,994.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,389,326.70. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,276 shares of company stock worth $4,517,947. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.