Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Now Covered by Janney Montgomery Scott

Stock analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Janney Montgomery Scott’s target price indicates a potential upside of 22.11% from the company’s previous close.

ITRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim raised Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Itron from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.67.

Itron Stock Up 4.1 %

ITRI stock opened at $107.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Itron has a twelve month low of $56.11 and a twelve month high of $113.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $101.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.83.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.25. Itron had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The firm had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $599.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Itron will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In other news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $51,994.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,389,326.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Itron news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $425,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,643,169. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $51,994.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,389,326.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $584,721. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Itron by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,701,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $527,488,000 after buying an additional 45,909 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in Itron by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 603,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,760,000 after acquiring an additional 279,629 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Itron by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,233,000 after acquiring an additional 11,918 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Itron in the first quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,504,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.