Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 69.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Itron were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Itron by 62.7% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 899,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $96,106,000 after acquiring an additional 346,615 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 86.2% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 603,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $59,760,000 after buying an additional 279,629 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Itron by 90.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,734 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,658,000 after buying an additional 243,355 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itron in the second quarter valued at about $22,612,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itron in the second quarter worth about $18,758,000. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Itron in a report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of Itron stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $3,931,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,519,083.08. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Itron Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ ITRI opened at $118.53 on Monday. Itron, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.81 and a 12 month high of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.71. Itron had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $615.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Itron 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.