In the latest close session, Itron (ITRI) was up +1.05% at $124.00. The stock’s performance was ahead of the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.59%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.65%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.44%.
The stock of energy and water meter company has fallen by 0.62% in the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 7.68% and the S&P 500’s gain of 2.72%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Itron in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.48, marking a 19.57% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $576.45 million, down 6.34% from the prior-year quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $5.98 per share and a revenue of $2.37 billion, signifying shifts of +6.41% and -2.76%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Itron. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there’s been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Currently, Itron is carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, Itron is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.51. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 23.13 of its industry.
It’s also important to note that ITRI currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.68. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Electronics – Testing Equipment industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.65.
The Electronics – Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 24, this industry ranks in the top 10% of all industries, numbering over 250.
