Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Piper Sandler in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $109.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, up from their previous price target of $103.00. Piper Sandler's price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.86% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on ITRI. TheStreet upgraded shares of Itron from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Itron from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.60.

Itron Price Performance

Itron stock traded up $7.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,235,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,543. Itron has a fifty-two week low of $56.11 and a fifty-two week high of $107.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.05.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. Itron had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Itron's revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Itron will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,743,032.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,743,032.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $117,577.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,532,827.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itron

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Itron in the 4th quarter worth about $24,504,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Itron by 517.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 246,688 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $14,944,000 after purchasing an additional 206,729 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Itron in the 4th quarter worth about $11,654,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Itron by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,668,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $343,372,000 after acquiring an additional 142,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Itron by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 216,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $16,324,000 after acquiring an additional 126,328 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.