Itochu (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Itochu Corp. (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $13.62, but opened at $14.19. Itochu shares last traded at $14.00, with a volume of 32,135 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Itochu from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Itochu Trading Up 2.7%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.70. The stock has a market cap of $110.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Itochu (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Itochu Corp. will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Itochu

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aristotle Capital Management LLC raised its position in Itochu by 897.0% in the first quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 117,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 105,505 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itochu by 0.8% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 103,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Itochu by 11.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 3,128 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Itochu during the fourth quarter worth about $279,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Itochu by 898.1% during the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 13,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Itochu Company Profile

Itochu Corporation is a Japan-based general trading company with business activities spanning a broad range of industries and geographies. The company develops, imports, exports and distributes products while also investing in businesses and providing related services through its global network.

Itochu’s principal operations include textiles, food, metals and minerals, energy and chemicals, machinery, general products and real estate, as well as financial services and information and communications technology.