JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) to Overweight

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $145.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $128.00.

ITRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Itron in a research note on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Itron from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Itron from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Itron from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Itron Stock Down 10.0%

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $124.54 on Thursday. Itron has a 1-year low of $90.11 and a 1-year high of $140.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $128.27 and a 200 day moving average of $113.01. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.29. Itron had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The company had revenue of $606.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $610.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Itron will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.95, for a total value of $60,808.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,151 shares in the company, valued at $2,316,357.45. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.95, for a total transaction of $107,823.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 89,364 shares in the company, valued at $10,272,391.80. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,905 shares of company stock worth $2,439,202 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Itron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron in the first quarter worth $266,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Itron by 119.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,060 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,073,000 after acquiring an additional 41,984 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Itron by 54.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Itron by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 270,672 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,356,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California First Leasing Corp increased its holdings in shares of Itron by 220.8% during the 1st quarter. California First Leasing Corp now owns 26,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 18,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% 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.