Itron stock up after declaration
Wall Street smiled on Itron Inc.’s takeover of European rival Actaris Metering Systems, pushing the company’s stock price up $3 a share in heavy trading.
The Liberty Lake company’s sale of four million shares from the corporate treasury didn’t temper what appeared to be enthusiasm for the $1.6 billion cash and debt retirement deal that should double Itron’s size.
Itron shares closed at $66.81 during a day when about 1 in 10 common shares was traded.
The deal with Actaris is expected to close within several months and extend Itron’s automated meter reading business into 30 countries and double its annual sales.
New York
Sterling CEO rings Nasdaq bell
Harold Gilkey, the chairman and chief executive officer of Spokane-based Sterling Financial Corp., rang the Nasdaq opening bell Monday in celebration of 20 years on the stock exchange.
When Sterling first was listed on the NASDAQ, the stock was priced at $4 per share. The company now trades at more than $33 per share, Sterling said in a news release.
Sterling Financial is a bank-holding company which operates Sterling Savings Bank and Golf Savings Bank. The company has financial service centers throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Washington
Majority in US lack emergency savings
Only 40 percent of Americans have separate savings for an emergency such as car repairs or urgent dental work, and the young, poor and minorities are the least likely to have such funds, a survey released Monday shows.
Americans are notoriously poor savers in general. The report issued by the Consumer Federation of America also found that 81 percent of those surveyed said they believe their rainy-day savings would be sufficient to cover emergency expenses this year.
“The ability of Americans to cover unexpected expenses … greatly depends on their having an emergency savings fund,” Stephen Brobeck, the consumer group’s executive director, said in a statement. “Those with a fund are highly likely to be able to afford these expenditures.”
They also will be less dependent on high-cost credit such as payday loans or credit cards in an emergency, he said.
The best way to save for an emergency is with periodic deposits to a savings account, mutual fund or retirement fund, the federation noted.