Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Invests $27.49 Million in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 253,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,486,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. owned 0.56% of Itron as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itron by 105.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 10,001 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Itron by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,940 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,835,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Itron by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,083 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Itron by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 134,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,351,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron during the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ITRI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Itron from $135.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Itron from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.64.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ ITRI opened at $103.13 on Thursday. Itron, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.13 and a 1 year high of $124.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.42.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total transaction of $60,199.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,285.40. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary C. Hemmingsen sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.27, for a total transaction of $80,452.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,930.10. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,037 shares of company stock worth $385,815 in the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.