Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ITRI. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Itron in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.20.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of Itron stock opened at $95.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Itron has a 52-week low of $77.77 and a 52-week high of $112.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.04.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.38. Itron had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The business had revenue of $599.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Itron will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, SVP Justin Patrick sold 10,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.36, for a total transaction of $994,045.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 22,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,148,248.40. The trade was a 31.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joan Hooper sold 4,406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.86, for a total value of $435,577.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 117,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,577,791.18. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,903 shares of company stock worth $1,753,521. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Itron

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Itron by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,536,081 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,659,000 after purchasing an additional 265,039 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Itron by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 969,228 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,872,000 after buying an additional 176,053 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Itron by 12.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 673,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $60,359,000 after acquiring an additional 73,020 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Itron during the 2nd quarter worth $42,466,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Itron by 10.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 461,761 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,388,000 after purchasing an additional 42,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

About Itron

Itron, Inc is a technology company that provides solutions to utilities and cities for managing electricity, natural gas, and water resources. Its offerings help organizations measure consumption, collect and analyze data, improve operational efficiency, and support more reliable and sustainable delivery of essential services.

The company’s portfolio includes smart meters, advanced metering infrastructure, communications networks, sensors, data management systems, and utility software.