Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 27,172 Shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 72.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 27,172 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.32% of Ituran Location and Control worth $2,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 148.9% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% during 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. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the second quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ituran Location and Control Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Ituran Location and Control stock opened at $42.09 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.70. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 12 month low of $28.96 and a 12 month high of $45.43.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $92.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.52 million. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 27.68% and a net margin of 16.23%.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 29th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is presently 70.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ITRN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ituran Location and Control from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

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.