Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.90-1.00 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company issued revenue guidance of $595-605 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $583.61 million.

Itron Price Performance

Shares of Itron stock traded up $7.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,235,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Itron has a one year low of $56.11 and a one year high of $107.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $603.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.49 million. Itron had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Itron will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ITRI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Itron from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Itron from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Itron from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Itron from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised Itron from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $103.60.

Insider Activity

In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of Itron 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 sale, 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 available at the SEC website. In other Itron news, CEO Thomas Deitrich sold 1,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $144,107.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,743,032.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $28,866.71. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $656,321.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,467 shares of company stock valued at $2,752,520. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

About Itron

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.