Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRI. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Itron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Itron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Itron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,443,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Itron by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 47,745 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 22,038 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Itron by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,668,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $343,372,000 after buying an additional 142,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other news, 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 transaction of $33,227.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,237.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction of $33,227.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,237.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,444,965.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,775 shares of company stock worth $192,613 over the last ninety days. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.64.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ ITRI traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 415,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.45. Itron, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.11 and a twelve month high of $111.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.97.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.39. Itron had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Itron’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal 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.