Meitav Investment House Ltd. Acquires Shares of 16,291 Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

Meitav Investment House Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $781,000. Meitav Investment House Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Ituran Location and Control at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRN. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 4.9% in 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 buying an additional 39,718 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 909.3% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,218,000 after acquiring an additional 486,331 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 34,550 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 410,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 283,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,010 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 have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN opened at $55.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $102.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.32 million. On average, research analysts predict that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.