Virtue Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,249 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Itron were worth $896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Itron by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 802,584 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,145,000 after acquiring an additional 66,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Itron in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,615,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Itron by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 572,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,137,000 after acquiring an additional 58,546 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itron by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 560,478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $60,857,000 after acquiring an additional 99,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Itron by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 536,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $58,233,000 after acquiring an additional 12,810 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $133.00 target price on shares of Itron in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, Director Mary C. Hemmingsen sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.27, for a total transaction of $80,452.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $603,930.10. The trade was a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Itron Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI opened at $112.63 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Itron, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.11 and a 1-year high of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.31.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.22. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $607.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

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.