MML Investors Services LLC Grows Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,226 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Itron were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sculptor Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Itron in the second quarter worth about $5,255,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Itron by 97.8% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 10,207 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 5,047 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Itron during the 2nd quarter worth about $18,758,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Itron by 105.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 10,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Itron by 1,331.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 200,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,832,000 after purchasing an additional 186,399 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ITRI shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas started coverage on Itron in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Itron in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,276 shares in the company, valued at $21,519,083.08. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Itron Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $110.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.96. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.21 and a 12-month high of $124.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46.

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