Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Itron, Inc. $ITRI

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 544,913 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,727,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Itron during the 2nd quarter valued at $91,998,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Itron by 129.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 732,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $76,713,000 after purchasing an additional 413,487 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Itron by 21.2% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 943,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $124,201,000 after purchasing an additional 165,300 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Itron by 18.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 929,407 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $97,313,000 after buying an additional 144,361 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Itron by 347.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 121,043 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,680,000 after buying an additional 93,977 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itron

In related news, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.51, for a total value of $91,491.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 87,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,439,413.46. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Justin K. Patrick sold 379 shares of Itron stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.51, for a total transaction of $36,577.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,967,066.82. The trade was a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 2,971 shares of company stock valued at $286,731 in the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Itron Trading Up 0.8%

ITRI opened at $99.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Itron, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.11 and a 12 month high of $142.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.59.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.06. Itron had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 10.69%.The firm had revenue of $581.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Itron has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.840-6.940 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ITRI. Stephens upgraded shares of Itron from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Itron in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Itron from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Itron in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Itron and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.00.

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.