Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 7,779 Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,779 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Itron by 1.4% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,430 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Itron by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Itron by 0.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its position in Itron by 2.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 9,275 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Itron by 2.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Performance

Itron stock opened at $90.76 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.95. Itron, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.60 and a fifty-two week high of $96.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.90 million. Itron had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Itron news, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $547,687.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares in the company, valued at $12,743,032.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Itron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.60.

Itron Profile

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.