Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 659 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Itron by 517.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 246,688 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,944,000 after buying an additional 206,729 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Itron by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,668,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $343,372,000 after buying an additional 142,564 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its position in Itron by 140.6% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 216,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,324,000 after buying an additional 126,328 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Itron by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 804,648 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $60,759,000 after purchasing an additional 110,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Itron by 453.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 114,856 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,958,000 after purchasing an additional 94,085 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $28,866.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $656,321.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $28,866.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $656,321.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $144,107.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 169,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock worth $2,752,520 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ITRI. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Itron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.60.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $95.75 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.97 and a 1 year high of $97.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.37 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.41.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.48. Itron had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Itron’s revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itron 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.