Green Alpha Advisors LLC Increases Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Green Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Itron were worth $638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Itron in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,534,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 62.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 899,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $96,106,000 after buying an additional 346,615 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Itron by 86.2% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 603,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,760,000 after buying an additional 279,629 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 90.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,734 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,658,000 after buying an additional 243,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Itron by 611.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 282,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,128,000 after acquiring an additional 243,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of ITRI opened at $103.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.36. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.21 and a 1 year high of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ITRI. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Itron in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.92.

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.