Analysts Set Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Price Target at $60.67

Shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ITRN shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Loop Capital set a $57.00 target price on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 909.3% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,218,000 after purchasing an additional 486,331 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 721.6% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 104,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after purchasing an additional 91,509 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 132,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,691,000 after purchasing an additional 68,222 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 90.8% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 137,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,331,000 after purchasing an additional 65,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 71.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 125,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 52,150 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 2.0%

ITRN opened at $65.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 0.77. Ituran Location and Control has a 52-week low of $32.71 and a 52-week high of $68.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.87.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ituran Location and Control 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 198.02%.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

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.