Itron, Inc. $ITRI Stock: Alps Advisors Inc. Cuts Position

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Itron stake by 30.8% in the third quarter, selling 24,853 shares; it ended the period with 55,869 shares valued at about $4.8 million.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: nine analysts rate Itron a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $129.20.
• Itron beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.94 versus $1.56 expected and revenue of $599.3 million, up 3% year over year.

Alps Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,869 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 24,853 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.13% of Itron worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Itron in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Itron in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Itron during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Itron by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Itron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Itron in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings cut Itron from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Itron from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In other news, SVP John F. Marcolini sold 331 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.79, for a total transaction of $32,699.49. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,953.57. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joan Hooper sold 4,406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.86, for a total transaction of $435,577.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 117,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,577,791.18. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,233 shares of company stock valued at $1,886,033. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $98.44 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $91.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.05. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.33. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.77 and a 1 year high of $108.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.38. Itron had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $599.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $595.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Itron Profile

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