Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) posted its earnings results on Thursday. 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, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Itron updated its Q2 guidance to $0.90-1.00 EPS.

Itron Stock Up 7.2 %

ITRI stock traded up $7.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,235,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,543. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.94 and its 200-day moving average is $77.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Itron has a 12 month low of $56.11 and a 12 month high of $107.11. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 50.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ITRI. TheStreet raised Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Raymond James lowered shares of Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three investment 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, Itron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Itron news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $547,687.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 5,750 shares in the company, valued at $547,687.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 3,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.02, for a total transaction of $305,190.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 198,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,067,287.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.