Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $37.99, but opened at $40.03. Ituran Location and Control shares last traded at $40.5850, with a volume of 2,612 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ITRN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 0.6%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $806.34 million, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.88.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $92.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.52 million. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 16.35%.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.42%.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the first quarter worth $40,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 148.9% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.