Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.67.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Ituran Location and Control from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 36.0% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the first quarter worth approximately $204,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the second quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 1st quarter valued at $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

ITRN stock opened at $52.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.78. Ituran Location and Control has a one year low of $35.00 and a one year high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 16.28%.The company had revenue of $104.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.84 million. Research analysts forecast that Ituran Location and Control will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 61.73%.

About Ituran Location and Control

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ: ITRN) is an Israel-based provider of location-based services and wireless communications solutions. The company develops and operates vehicle location, tracking and control systems designed to help customers monitor vehicles, recover stolen automobiles and manage mobile assets.

Its offerings include vehicle-recovery and tracking services, fleet-management solutions, GPS and cellular communication devices, and telematics services used by insurers, automobile manufacturers, fleet operators and individual consumers.