Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Short Interest Up 5.9% in December

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in 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 currently 7.3 days. Approximately 8.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Itron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Itron by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 248,077 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,497,000 after acquiring an additional 10,677 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 611.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 282,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,128,000 after purchasing an additional 243,102 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 454.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,862 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 11,363 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in Itron by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 7,830 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Itron in the third quarter valued at approximately $350,000. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Itron Stock Performance

NASDAQ ITRI opened at $108.58 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $113.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.05. Itron has a twelve month low of $67.21 and a twelve month high of $124.90.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $615.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.41 million. Itron had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Itron will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ITRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Itron in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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 raised their target price on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.92.

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.