Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Purchases New Stake in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 253,140 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,486,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Itron by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 21,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Itron by 29.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 454 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Itron by 42.1% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Itron by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,921 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Itron by 26.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other Itron news, SVP Christopher E. Ware sold 648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total transaction of $60,199.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,285.40. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Marshall Wright sold 317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total transaction of $29,449.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,108 shares in the company, valued at $753,233.20. The trade was a 3.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,037 shares of company stock valued at $385,815 over the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Itron Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ITRI opened at $103.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Itron, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.13 and a 1-year high of $124.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ITRI. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Itron from $135.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Itron from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Itron from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Itron from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.64.

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.