Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New Investment in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 659 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 0.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,337 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 2.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 9,275 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 1.2% in the third quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 18,882 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Itron by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:ITRI opened at $95.75 on Friday. Itron, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.97 and a 52 week high of $97.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 45.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.37 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.48. Itron had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 4.46%. The business had revenue of $577.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Itron, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Itron from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer raised Itron from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Itron from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Raymond James lowered Itron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $144,107.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jerome J. Lande sold 14,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.25, for a total value of $1,418,844.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $547,687.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520 in the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.