John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Trims Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,356 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $4,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Itron in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 240.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 429 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 9,150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Itron during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Price Performance

Itron stock traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.68. 328,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 404,449. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.58. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.54, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.60 and a 12-month high of $96.73.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.90 million. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ITRI shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Itron from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet raised Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 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 value of $144,107.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,073 shares in the company, valued at $12,743,032.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520 over the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Itron 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.