Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the March 31st total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 426,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ITRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded Itron from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Itron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.60.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $28,866.71. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,708 shares in the company, valued at $656,321.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $28,866.71. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $656,321.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Itron during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Itron by 9,150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Itron during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Itron during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ ITRI opened at $91.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Itron has a twelve month low of $52.23 and a twelve month high of $97.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.89.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.90 million. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The company’s revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Itron will post 3.61 earnings per share 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.