Itron (ITRI) closed at $90.24 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.25% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.17%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.18%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.4%.
Heading into today, shares of the energy and water meter company had lost 7.16% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.37% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.29%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Itron in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.57, up 1.95% from the prior-year quarter. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $596.45 million, showing a 2.55% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
ITRI's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.41 per share and revenue of $2.39 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -10.1% and +0.87%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Itron. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.1% increase. Itron is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
From a valuation perspective, Itron is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.26. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 23.19.
We can additionally observe that ITRI currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.1. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Electronics - Testing Equipment industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.28.
The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 12, this industry ranks in the top 5% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners, but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like D-Wave Quantum, which shot up +680.1%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Itron, Inc. (ITRI): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).