BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Buys 3,813 Shares of Itron, Inc. $ITRI

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Itron, Inc. by 12.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 3,813 shares for a total of 34,073 shares worth approximately $3.57 million.
• Itron reported earnings of $1.62 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a 11.05% net margin, with a slight decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings for Itron have been generally positive, with several firms reiterating “buy” ratings and raising price targets, including Guggenheim, which increased its target from $133.00 to $155.00.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,073 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,813 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.07% of Itron worth $3,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Itron by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Itron by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 802,584 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $87,145,000 after purchasing an additional 66,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Itron by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 572,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $62,137,000 after purchasing an additional 58,546 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Itron by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 560,478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $60,857,000 after purchasing an additional 99,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Itron by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 536,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $58,233,000 after buying an additional 12,810 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Itron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Itron from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Itron from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Johnson Rice downgraded Itron from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itron has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $136.25.

Itron Stock Performance

Itron stock traded up $3.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.83. 579,722 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 588,913. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.11 and a 52 week high of $140.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $130.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other Itron news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 938 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.95, for a total value of $107,823.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,272,391.80. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Justin K. Patrick sold 9,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.77, for a total transaction of $1,100,313.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,313.73. This represents a 29.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,879,397. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Itron 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.