BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. Boosts Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 63.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,547 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,655 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A.’s holdings in Itron were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ITRI. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $316,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in Itron by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,542 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Itron by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 264,909 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $20,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Itron by 126.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 84,301 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,366,000 after acquiring an additional 47,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Itron during the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on Itron from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. TheStreet raised Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Itron from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Itron from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 3,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $292,830.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,869,610.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 3,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.10, for a total value of $292,830.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,869,610.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $33,227.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,642,237.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,923 shares of company stock valued at $2,495,196 in the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Itron Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ITRI traded down $2.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,907. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.53. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.11 and a 12-month high of $109.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.38.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. Itron’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS 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.