Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $36.93, but opened at $38.58. Ituran Location and Control shares last traded at $36.6010, with a volume of 23,421 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $92.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.52 million. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.35% and a return on equity of 28.24%.

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is currently 71.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ITRN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ibex Investors LLC raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ibex Investors LLC now owns 896,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,016,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 2.8% in the third quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 818,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,239,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 18.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 726,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,097,000 after buying an additional 113,594 shares during the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 21.9% during the third quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 280,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,016,000 after buying an additional 50,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 230,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,227,000 after buying an additional 51,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Trading Down 0.6%

The stock has a market cap of $729.96 million, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.42.

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.