Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Position in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 194.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,867 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ITRN. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 426,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,957,000 after buying an additional 12,124 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 13.0% in the first quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 354,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,726,000 after purchasing an additional 40,919 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 5.7% in the second quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 339,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,926,000 after purchasing an additional 18,221 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 307,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 291,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 28,272 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ITRN shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN opened at $24.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.97. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 52-week low of $20.35 and a 52-week high of $31.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.46 million, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $81.65 million for the quarter. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 14.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Ituran Location and Control’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

About Ituran Location and Control

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.