Itron, Inc. (ITRI - Free Report) recently extended its contract with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) by three years to provide pay-for-performance demand-response solution.
The partnership between Itron and SMECO enables the latter to offer reliable power and lower rates for its customers. Itron’s long-standing partnership with SMECO began in 2008, with the installation of more than 45,000 load-control devices for residential and small commercial customers under SMECO’s CoolSentry outsourced demand-response program.
With the aforementioned contract extension, SMECO will be able to reduce its exposure to generation and transmission capacity charges. Per the contract, Itron will install the necessary load-control equipment and operate the program using the company’s IntelliSOURCE Enterprise cloud-based software. Itron will operate the program as a virtual power plant, increasing reliability and lowering costs for SMECO’s customers.
Itron has also been awarded several new contracts since the end of the third quarter. In the Water segment, the company has been awarded several contracts subsequent to the end of the quarter, including SANEPAR in Brazil, and contracts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Malta.
On the back of these contracts, the company estimates significant sequential increase in bookings in fourth-quarter 2017, which will likely result in a book-to-bill ratio greater than 1:1.
In the past year, Itron has underperformed the industry it belongs to. The company’s shares have gained around 5.1% compared with 51.8% growth recorded by the industry.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Itron currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in the same industry are Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A - Free Report) , AMETEK, Inc. (AME - Free Report) and Teradyne, Inc. (TER - Free Report) . All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Agilent Technologies has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 9.8%.
AMETEK has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 11.4%.
Teradyne has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12%.
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It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
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Itron, Inc. (ITRI - Free Report) recently extended its contract with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) by three years to provide pay-for-performance demand-response solution.
The partnership between Itron and SMECO enables the latter to offer reliable power and lower rates for its customers. Itron’s long-standing partnership with SMECO began in 2008, with the installation of more than 45,000 load-control devices for residential and small commercial customers under SMECO’s CoolSentry outsourced demand-response program.
With the aforementioned contract extension, SMECO will be able to reduce its exposure to generation and transmission capacity charges. Per the contract, Itron will install the necessary load-control equipment and operate the program using the company’s IntelliSOURCE Enterprise cloud-based software. Itron will operate the program as a virtual power plant, increasing reliability and lowering costs for SMECO’s customers.
Itron has also been awarded several new contracts since the end of the third quarter. In the Water segment, the company has been awarded several contracts subsequent to the end of the quarter, including SANEPAR in Brazil, and contracts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Malta.
On the back of these contracts, the company estimates significant sequential increase in bookings in fourth-quarter 2017, which will likely result in a book-to-bill ratio greater than 1:1.
In the past year, Itron has underperformed the industry it belongs to. The company’s shares have gained around 5.1% compared with 51.8% growth recorded by the industry.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Itron currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in the same industry are Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A - Free Report) , AMETEK, Inc. (AME - Free Report) and Teradyne, Inc. (TER - Free Report) . All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Agilent Technologies has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 9.8%.
AMETEK has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 11.4%.
Teradyne has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12%.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 - Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
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