Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ITRN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.00.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ITRN opened at $49.66 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.71. Ituran Location and Control has a 1-year low of $30.06 and a 1-year high of $51.33.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $93.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.30 million. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 27.27%.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Ituran Location and Control’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 30th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ituran Location and Control by 909.3% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,218,000 after buying an additional 486,331 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 726,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,097,000 after acquiring an additional 113,594 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 2nd quarter worth $3,731,000. Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 721.6% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 104,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after purchasing an additional 91,509 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ituran Location and Control by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 132,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,691,000 after purchasing an additional 68,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. is a provider of wireless vehicle tracking and stolen vehicle recovery services. The company leverages a combination of cellular and global positioning system (GPS) technologies to offer real-time monitoring and location-based solutions for private vehicle owners, fleet operators and insurance companies. Its core offerings include subscription-based tracking devices, centralized control centers and software platforms that enable clients to detect unauthorized vehicle use, dispatch recovery teams and manage fleet logistics.

Founded in 1994 in Israel, Ituran pioneered the use of wireless communications for security and telematics applications.