The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 571 Shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,231 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Itron were worth $2,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in Itron by 315.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Itron by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,772 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in Itron in the 2nd quarter worth about $252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Itron by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 268,379 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,559,000 after purchasing an additional 19,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Itron during the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $3,931,125.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ITRI. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Itron in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.92.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of Itron stock opened at $115.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $112.09 and its 200 day moving average is $105.67. Itron, Inc. has a one year low of $67.21 and a one year high of $124.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $596.41 million. Itron had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 9.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share 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.