Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Invests $2.11 Million in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,105,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Itron during the 1st quarter valued at $401,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Itron in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,504,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Itron by 1,331.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 200,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,832,000 after purchasing an additional 186,399 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Itron by 72.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 309,761 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,654,000 after purchasing an additional 130,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Itron in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,170,000. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $425,210.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,643,169. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total transaction of $90,607.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,968,943.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $425,210.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,643,169. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $584,721 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI opened at $103.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.56 and a 200-day moving average of $99.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Itron, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.11 and a 12 month high of $113.07.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.25. Itron had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 16.42%. The firm had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Itron from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.64.

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.