Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Lowered to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Separately, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.20. 99,775 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 102,458. Ituran Location and Control has a 1 year low of $24.12 and a 1 year high of $45.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $759.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 15.65%. The firm had revenue of $86.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.47 million.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.24%. Ituran Location and Control's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the first quarter worth approximately $54,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Ituran Location and Control by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.