Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) versus Assa Abloy (OTCMKTS:ASAZY) Critical Comparison

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) and Assa Abloy (OTCMKTS:ASAZY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Ituran Location and Control and Assa Abloy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ituran Location and Control	16.35%	28.24%	16.47%
Assa Abloy	9.57%	14.54%	6.81%

Dividends

Ituran Location and Control pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Assa Abloy pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ituran Location and Control pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Assa Abloy pays out 25.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Ituran Location and Control has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Ituran Location and Control is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ituran Location and Control and Assa Abloy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ituran Location and Control	0	0	2	0	3.00
Assa Abloy	0	2	1	0	2.33

Ituran Location and Control presently has a consensus target price of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 29.90%. Given Ituran Location and Control’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ituran Location and Control is more favorable than Assa Abloy.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ituran Location and Control and Assa Abloy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ituran Location and Control	$336.26 million	N/A	$53.65 million	$2.79	13.80
Assa Abloy	$14.20 billion	N/A	$1.48 billion	$0.71	27.20

Assa Abloy has higher revenue and earnings than Ituran Location and Control. Ituran Location and Control is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Assa Abloy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Ituran Location and Control has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assa Abloy has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ituran Location and Control beats Assa Abloy on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ituran Location and Control

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. This segment also delivers on-demand navigation guidance, information, and assistance, including the provision of traffic reports and directions, as well as information on the location of gas stations, car repair shops, post offices, hospitals, and other facilities; and Connected Car, a service platform that includes a back-office application, a telematics device installed in the vehicle, mobile apps for IOS and Android users, and interface using the car infotainment screen, as well as usage based insurance and auto financing services. This segment serves insurance companies and agents, car manufacturers, dealers and importers, cooperative sales channels, and private subscribers. The Telematics Products segment offers Base Site, a radio receiver that includes a processor and a data computation unit to collect and send data to and from transponders, and to control centers; Control Center, a center consisting of software used to collect data from various base sites, conduct location calculations, and transmit location data to various customers and law enforcement agencies; navigation and tracking devices installed in vehicles; and SMART, a portable transmitter installed in vehicles that sends a signal to the base site enabling the location of vehicles, equipment, or an individual. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Azor, Israel.

About Assa Abloy

ASSA ABLOY AB (publ) provides door opening and access products, solutions, and services for the institutional, commercial, and residential markets in Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Oceania. The company provides digital access solutions, such as electronic access control ecosystem, wireless solutions, electronic key solutions, standalone access solutions, and wired solutions; swing, revolving, and sliding doors; mechanical products, including hinges, lever handles, mortise lockcases, euro profile cylinders, panic exit devices, door closers, floor spring, and general hardware; and doors. It offers Openings Studio, a building information modeling software ecosystem is collaboration tool for designing, documenting, and managing openings. The company provides its products primarily under the ASSA ABLOY, Yale, and HID brands. It sells its products through distributors and wholesalers. The company serves aviation, education, distribution and logistics, entertainment and public facility, finance and banking, government and military, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, mining, office and enterprise, homes and residence, retail, shipyards, and transportation industries. ASSA ABLOY AB (publ) was incorporated in 1954 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.