Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Itron, Inc. $ITRI

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired 5,263 shares of Itron, Inc. valued at approximately $551,000 in the 1st quarter, marking a significant investment in the scientific and technical instruments company.
• Itron reported quarterly earnings of $1.62 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.33, but its revenue of $606.76 million slightly missed expectations.
• Analyst ratings for Itron have improved, with Wall Street Zen raising their rating from "hold" to "buy," while eleven analysts currently rate the stock as a "buy" with an average price target of $136.25.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 11.4% in 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 152,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $16,590,000 after purchasing an additional 50,693 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 18,290 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 11,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company's stock.

Itron Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of ITRI stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $120.45. 623,721 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 588,617. The stock's fifty day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Itron, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.11 and a 52-week high of $140.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.46.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $606.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $610.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Itron has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.450-1.550 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ITRI shares. Roth Capital upped their price target 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 downgraded Itron from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Itron from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Itron from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Stephens set a $130.00 price target on Itron in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Itron presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.55.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other Itron news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 970 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total transaction of $121,550.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,652.14. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,100,313.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 21,149 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,073 shares of company stock worth $1,480,880 in the last ninety days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.