Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 144,480 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 121,830 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 123,504 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

NASDAQ ITRN traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.97. The company had a trading volume of 189,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,765. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.94 and its 200 day moving average is $43.94. Ituran Location and Control has a fifty-two week low of $32.38 and a fifty-two week high of $56.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.66.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 16.15%.The company had revenue of $93.50 million during the quarter.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. This is a boost from Ituran Location and Control’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 206.19%.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ITRN. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 276.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 12,586 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 19,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 3,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ITRN shares. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Loop Capital set a $57.00 price target on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.67.

About Ituran Location and Control

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.