Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Stock Dropped to “Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Ituran Location and Control from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 0.3%

ITRN opened at $49.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.64. Ituran Location and Control has a 52 week low of $35.22 and a 52 week high of $68.30. The company has a market capitalization of $989.73 million, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.79.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $104.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.84 million. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 29.03% and a net margin of 16.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ituran Location and Control will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 153.0% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the 3rd quarter worth about $123,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the 2nd quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. is an Israel-based provider of vehicle location, tracking and control services. The company develops and operates solutions designed to help recover stolen vehicles, monitor vehicle locations and improve the safety, security and management of automobiles and other mobile assets.

Its offerings include stolen-vehicle recovery systems, GPS and cellular tracking devices, fleet-management tools, telematics services and related subscription-based monitoring services.