R Squared Ltd Sells 13,202 Shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

R Squared Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 66.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,202 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 11,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Four Tree Island Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 60,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Maxim Group started coverage on Ituran Location and Control in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 4.9%

ITRN opened at $55.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.77. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a twelve month low of $32.71 and a twelve month high of $68.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.63.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its quarterly 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 company 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend 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.