Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Ituran Location and Control has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with four buy ratings and one hold; the average 12-month price target is about $60.67.
• The company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus $0.80 expected and revenue of $102.67 million versus $95.32 million estimated.
• Ituran also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, equal to a $2.00 annualized payout and a 3.6% yield.

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research 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 analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.6667.

ITRN has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ituran Location and Control to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ituran Location and Control from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in Ituran Location and Control by 4.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. J.M. Arbour LLC acquired a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the 4th quarter valued at about $881,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,451,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the fourth quarter worth approximately $689,000. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the first quarter worth approximately $638,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:ITRN opened at $55.74 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.94 and a 200-day moving average of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40 and a beta of 0.77. Ituran Location and Control has a twelve month low of $32.71 and a twelve month high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $102.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.32 million. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 27.70%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ituran Location and Control will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ituran Location and Control's payout ratio is currently 66.01%.

About Ituran Location and Control

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.

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