Itron (ITRI) Competitors

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) and Coherent (NYSE:COHR) are both electronic equipment & instruments companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ITRI or COHR?

96.2% of Itron shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Coherent shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Itron shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Coherent shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate ITRI or COHR?

Itron currently has a consensus price target of $128.18, suggesting a potential downside of 3.78%. Coherent has a consensus price target of $103.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.32%. Given Coherent's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Coherent is more favorable than Itron.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Itron	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
Coherent	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, ITRI or COHR?

Itron has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Coherent. Coherent is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Itron, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Itron	$2.44B	2.49	$239.10M	$5.48	24.31
Coherent	$4.71B	2.90	-$156.15M	-$0.23	-381.72

Does the media prefer ITRI or COHR?

In the previous week, Itron had 14 more articles in the media than Coherent. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Itron and 2 mentions for Coherent. Itron's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Coherent's score of 0.41 indicating that Itron is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Itron	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Coherent	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ITRI or COHR more profitable?

Itron has a net margin of 10.34% compared to Coherent's net margin of 1.73%. Itron's return on equity of 19.65% beat Coherent's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Itron	10.34%	19.65%	8.04%
Coherent	1.73%	9.07%	3.56%

Which has more volatility & risk, ITRI or COHR?

Itron has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coherent has a beta of 1.88, indicating that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Itron beats Coherent on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.