Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Short Interest Down 34.7% in August

Key Points

• Short interest in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. decreased by 34.7% in August, resulting in a total of 99,500 shares short sold by the end of the month.
• Institutional investors hold a significant 94.80% of Ituran's stock, with notable increases in stakes from AdvisorNet Financial Inc. and Jones Financial Companies.
• Ituran announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting a strong annualized yield of 5.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 25th.

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 99,500 shares, a drop of 34.7% from the August 15th total of 152,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 111,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 111,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the first quarter worth about $40,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 148.9% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Ituran Location and Control from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN opened at $34.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $695.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.04. Ituran Location and Control has a 1 year low of $25.86 and a 1 year high of $45.43.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.06). Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 16.35%.The business had revenue of $86.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.17 million.

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Ituran Location and Control's payout ratio is 71.68%.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

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.

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