Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Short Interest Up 7.9% in June

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the May 31st total of 1,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 522,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRI. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 61.5% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Itron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 31,458 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Itron by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Itron by 2.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 13,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Itron stock opened at $98.79 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.45. Itron has a twelve month low of $56.11 and a twelve month high of $111.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.65.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Itron will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ITRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Itron from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.64.

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.