Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Sets New 12-Month High After Earnings Beat

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $62.82 and last traded at $58.92, with a volume of 34971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.11.

The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.05. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $102.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.32 million.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. This is an increase from Ituran Location and Control’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 206.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITRN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Ituran Location and Control from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Maxim Group started coverage on Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.67.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ITRN. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 858,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,236,000 after acquiring an additional 39,718 shares during the last quarter. J.M. Arbour LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the 4th quarter worth approximately $881,000. CSM Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 30.2% in the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 125,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,480,000 after purchasing an additional 29,090 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the third quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the third quarter worth about $1,911,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

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.