Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 21,634 Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,634 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake 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 last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $99.12 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.11 and a 12-month high of $111.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $103.01 and a 200-day moving average of $88.21.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The company had revenue of $603.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $54,543.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,930,852.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,775 shares of company stock valued at $192,613 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Itron Company 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.