Trillium Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Trillium Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 31.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,674 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,471 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Itron were worth $710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,542 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the 1st quarter worth $2,002,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,668,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $343,372,000 after purchasing an additional 142,564 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Itron in the first quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Itron by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after buying an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ITRI traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.65. The stock had a trading volume of 369,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,197. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.45. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.11 and a 12-month high of $111.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. Itron’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total transaction of $95,043.51. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,444,965.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total transaction of $33,227.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,237.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.87, for a total value of $95,043.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 206,163 shares in the company, valued at $22,444,965.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,775 shares of company stock valued at $192,613 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ITRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Itron from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim upgraded Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Itron from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Itron from $112.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Itron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

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.