Natixis Sells 3,082 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Natixis reduced its position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 49.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,181 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,082 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Itron were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ITRI. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 99.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,932 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Itron by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 47,621 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 16,208 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Itron by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 398,372 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Itron by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 216,188 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,324,000 after purchasing an additional 126,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Itron by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,194 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Itron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI opened at $103.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $103.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.93. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.45. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.11 and a 52 week high of $111.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm 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%. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.09.

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.