Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) by 611.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 243,102 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.63% of Itron worth $31,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Itron during the second quarter worth about $235,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Itron during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Itron by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,286,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Itron by 118,416.7% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,111 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itron by 32.3% during the second quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 15,618 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. 96.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ITRI. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Itron from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Itron from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Itron from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Itron from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Itron in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.92.

Insider Transactions at Itron

In other news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total transaction of $3,931,125.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,519,083.08. This trade represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Performance

Shares of ITRI stock opened at $108.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.36. Itron, Inc. has a one year low of $67.21 and a one year high of $124.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.16 and its 200 day moving average is $105.88.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.71. Itron had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $615.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Itron, Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.