Short Interest in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Rises By 40.0%

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 114,700 shares, a growth of 40.0% from the May 15th total of 81,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 103,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

ITRN stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $36.11. 71,453 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,390. Ituran Location and Control has a one year low of $24.12 and a one year high of $45.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $718.37 million, a PE ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.93.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 28.31%. The company had revenue of $86.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.47 million.

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ITRN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ituran Location and Control from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ituran Location and Control from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ITRN. Invst LLC bought a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the 1st quarter valued at $398,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the first quarter valued at $223,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 6.0% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 13,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 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., together with its subsidiaries, provides location based telematics services and machine-to-machine telematics products. It operates through two segments, Telematics Services and Telematics Products. The Telematics services segment offers stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, which enables to locate, track, and recover stolen vehicles for its subscribers; fleet management services that enable corporate and individual customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time; and locator services that allow customers to protect valuable merchandise and equipment.