Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Trims Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 9.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 218,409 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 21,906 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $23,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ITRI. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itron during the 1st quarter worth approximately $346,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Itron by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 13,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Itron by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,701,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $527,488,000 after buying an additional 45,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Itron in the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim raised their target price on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Itron in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.92.

Itron Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI opened at $114.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.96 and a 1 year high of $124.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.63.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $615.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $596.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $90,607.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,968,943.40. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $51,994.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,389,326.70. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,276 shares of company stock valued at $4,517,947. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.