Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 12,569 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 543,885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 12,569 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Itron were worth $58,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron during the 1st quarter worth approximately $401,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Itron by 62.7% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 899,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $96,106,000 after buying an additional 346,615 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in Itron by 86.2% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 603,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $59,760,000 after buying an additional 279,629 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Itron by 90.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 243,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Itron in the second quarter valued at $22,612,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Itron in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.92.

Itron Price Performance

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $118.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.42 and a 52 week high of $124.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.97.

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

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $3,931,125.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,519,083.08. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.45% 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.