Short Interest in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Increases By 5.9%

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 8.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 490,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Itron from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Itron in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Itron from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Itron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.92.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of ITRI opened at $108.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.07. Itron has a fifty-two week low of $67.21 and a fifty-two week high of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.46.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Itron will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itron

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Itron by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,940 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $114,835,000 after purchasing an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Itron by 62.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 899,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $96,106,000 after buying an additional 346,615 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Itron by 86.2% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 603,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,760,000 after acquiring an additional 279,629 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Itron by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,734 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,658,000 after acquiring an additional 243,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Itron by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 429,945 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $45,922,000 after acquiring an additional 6,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Company 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.