Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.39 EPS

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39, Briefing.com reports. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $603.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Itron updated its Q2 guidance to $0.90-1.00 EPS.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of ITRI opened at $107.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.38. Itron has a twelve month low of $56.11 and a twelve month high of $107.11.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $547,687.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 1,560 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $117,577.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,141 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,827.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520 over the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ITRI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Itron from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.60.

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.