Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 209,563 Shares of Itron, Inc. $ITRI

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Itron, Inc. by 45.7% in Q2, selling 209,563 shares and now holding about 0.55% of the company valued at approximately $32.79 million.
• Research analysts have shown confidence in Itron's stock, with Roth Capital raising its target price from $130 to $150 and multiple firms maintaining "buy" ratings, resulting in an average target price of $136.55.
• Itron recently reported earnings of $1.62 per share for Q2, exceeding estimates by $0.29, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 0.4%, bringing in $606.76 million.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 45.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 249,127 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 209,563 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.55% of Itron worth $32,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Itron by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,310,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $242,076,000 after purchasing an additional 59,962 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Itron by 18.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 929,407 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $97,313,000 after acquiring an additional 144,361 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Itron by 129.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 732,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $76,713,000 after purchasing an additional 413,487 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Itron by 15.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 384,152 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $40,244,000 after purchasing an additional 50,789 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its position in shares of Itron by 1.6% during the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 296,545 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,066,000 after buying an additional 4,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Itron Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of ITRI stock traded up $4.44 on Monday, reaching $125.07. 1,264,390 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 677,185. The business's 50 day moving average price is $126.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.12. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.04. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.11 and a 12-month high of $140.04.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $606.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $610.36 million. Itron had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 11.05%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. Itron has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.450-1.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 351 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total transaction of $43,983.81. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,395,551.27. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total value of $121,550.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,652.14. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,037 shares of company stock valued at $380,566 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens set a $130.00 price target on Itron in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Johnson Rice cut shares of Itron from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, July 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold 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 $136.55.

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.