Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,775 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITRI. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,083 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Itron by 154.9% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in Itron by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 8,795 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in Itron by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 5,878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Itron by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 23,422 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Itron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.92.

Itron Price Performance

Itron stock opened at $106.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Itron, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.00 and a 52-week high of $124.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.71. Itron had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $615.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Itron’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.