Roth Mkm Reaffirms Buy Rating for Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Roth Mkm reiterated their buy rating on shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Itron from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $81.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Raymond James cut shares of Itron from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Itron from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $97.60.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of ITRI traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.84. 473,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,401. Itron has a 1-year low of $50.60 and a 1-year high of $96.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business's 50 day moving average price is $88.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.27.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.48. Itron had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Itron will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $117,577.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,141 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,827.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $117,577.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,141 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,827.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Itron by 61.5% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company's stock.

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.