Short Interest in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Rises By 5.9%

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the November 30th total of 3,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 490,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.3 days. Currently, 8.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ITRI. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Itron in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.92.

Itron Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ITRI opened at $108.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.46. Itron has a 52 week low of $67.21 and a 52 week high of $124.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $113.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.03.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.71. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The business had revenue of $615.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.41 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Itron will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Itron

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Itron by 118,416.7% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,111 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $19,832,000 after purchasing an additional 186,399 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Itron by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,832 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Itron by 1.9% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Itron by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,991 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after buying an additional 10,357 shares during the period. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.