Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $1.45 Million in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 29,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,451,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 858,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,236,000 after purchasing an additional 39,718 shares during the last quarter. J.M. Arbour LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 4th quarter valued at $881,000. CSM Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 30.2% during the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 125,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,480,000 after buying an additional 29,090 shares during the period. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the fourth quarter worth $689,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 528,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,716,000 after buying an additional 34,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ITRN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Shares of ITRN traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.00. The stock had a trading volume of 154,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,785. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48 and a beta of 0.77. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 1-year low of $32.71 and a 1-year high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.05. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 27.70% and a net margin of 16.03%.The firm had revenue of $102.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.32 million. Equities analysts predict that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 66.01%.

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.