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

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 909.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486,331 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $23,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the period. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 2.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

NASDAQ:ITRN opened at $63.36 on Thursday. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 1-year low of $32.71 and a 1-year high of $68.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.00 and a 200 day moving average of $49.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.05. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 27.70%. The company had revenue of $102.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.32 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is 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.