Inspire Investing LLC Takes $1.59 Million Position in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 32,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 4.9% during 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 buying an additional 39,718 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 909.3% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,218,000 after acquiring an additional 486,331 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 528,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,716,000 after acquiring an additional 34,550 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 410,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 283,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ITRN. Loop Capital set a $57.00 target price on Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Friday, March 27th. 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 on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ituran Location and Control presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

ITRN opened at $60.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.25. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 1 year low of $32.71 and a 1 year high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $102.67 million during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is presently 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.