Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.72 Million Investment in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Itron as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Itron by 240.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 429 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% in the third 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. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Itron by 30.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Itron in the second quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $89.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.90 and a 200 day moving average of $74.80. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.60 and a 52 week high of $96.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $117,577.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,827.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ITRI shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Itron from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.60.

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.