Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Cut to “Neutral” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has $109.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ITRI. TheStreet upgraded Itron from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Itron from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Itron from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $104.18.

Itron Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $107.10 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.19. Itron has a twelve month low of $56.11 and a twelve month high of $109.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Itron will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,237.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,923 shares of company stock valued at $2,495,196 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Itron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Itron by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,701,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $527,488,000 after buying an additional 45,909 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Itron by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,681,573 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $126,978,000 after buying an additional 51,874 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 110,849 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in Itron by 1.9% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 635,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,504,000 after buying an additional 11,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Itron by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,943 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,233,000 after buying an additional 11,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% 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.