GW&K Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 909.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486,331 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 2.71% of Ituran Location and Control worth $23,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the first quarter valued at $223,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 276.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 12,586 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 23.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 19,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 3,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 13.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ITRN shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Maxim Group started coverage on Ituran Location and Control in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of ITRN opened at $63.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.00 and a 200 day moving average of $49.83. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 52-week low of $32.71 and a 52-week high of $68.30.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $102.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 198.02%.

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.