Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,226,874 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 181% from the previous session’s volume of 436,044 shares.The stock last traded at $102.98 and had previously closed at $102.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Itron from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Itron from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $109.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Itron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.18.

Itron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $102.25 and its 200 day moving average is $87.46.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction of $33,227.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,775 shares of company stock worth $192,613 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,133,000 after buying an additional 10,542 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,668,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $343,372,000 after buying an additional 142,564 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 47,621 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,596,000 after buying an additional 16,208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% 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.