Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Acquires 34,550 Shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 528,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,550 shares during the period. Ituran Location and Control accounts for 1.3% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $22,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 11,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,464,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ITRN opened at $66.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.96 and a 200 day moving average of $50.39. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a twelve month low of $32.71 and a twelve month high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $102.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.32 million. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 27.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 198.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $57.00 target price on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control 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.