Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Short Interest Down 5.5% in September

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the August 31st total of 3,460,000 shares. Approximately 7.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 631,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Itron from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Itron in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Itron from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.67.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $105.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Itron has a 1-year low of $56.11 and a 1-year high of $113.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.10.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.25 million. Itron had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Itron will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $425,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,643,169. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $90,607.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,968,943.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $425,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,643,169. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock worth $584,721. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron in the 1st quarter valued at $2,002,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth about $1,076,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Itron during the first quarter worth about $2,029,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 14,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Itron in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $904,000. 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.