Legato Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) by 56.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 10,268 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Itron were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Itron by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,795 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Itron by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Itron by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,144 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Itron by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,726 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Itron by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ITRI. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Itron from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Itron from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Itron from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itron currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.17.

Itron Stock Performance

ITRI stock traded up $1.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $135.97. The company had a trading volume of 533,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,746. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.03. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.93. Itron, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.11 and a twelve month high of $137.99.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $607.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $608.86 million. Itron had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 19.65%. Itron's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other news, SVP Justin K. Patrick sold 9,036 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,313.73. The trade was a 29.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary C. Hemmingsen sold 5,150 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total transaction of $559,805.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 952 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,482.40. This trade represents a 84.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,905 shares of company stock worth $2,439,202 in the last ninety days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.