Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Invests $2.97 Million in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 32,090 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,969,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRI. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Itron in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Itron during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Itron during the 4th quarter worth $81,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Itron Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ITRI traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.59. The stock had a trading volume of 916,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,685. Itron, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.11 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.45.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.49 million. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares in the company, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction 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 $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,775 shares of company stock valued at $192,613. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.09.

Itron Company Profile

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.