Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.6667.

ITRN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Friday, March 27th. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital set a $57.00 target price on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

Shares of Ituran Location and Control stock opened at $63.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.43. Ituran Location and Control has a 52-week low of $32.71 and a 52-week high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released 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. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 27.70%. The business had revenue of $102.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.32 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ituran Location and Control will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is currently 198.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% in the 1st 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. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. 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.