Quadrature Capital Ltd Invests $5.72 Million in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 61,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,718,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd owned 0.13% of Itron at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Itron by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,542 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Itron during the first quarter worth about $2,002,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 142,564 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in Itron during the first quarter worth about $1,076,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Itron during the first quarter worth about $2,029,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Itron from $112.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stephens upped their price objective on Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Guggenheim upgraded Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Itron from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,775 shares of company stock worth $192,613 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.56. 630,649 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 662,523. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.90. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.11 and a 52 week high of $111.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.93.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

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.