Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN Stake Decreased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 892,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 38,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $43,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ITRN. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 50.1% in 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. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 11,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Ituran Location and Control by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Ituran Location and Control by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Four Tree Island Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 60,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ituran Location and Control from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

Ituran Location and Control Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ITRN opened at $55.33 on Tuesday. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a twelve month low of $32.71 and a twelve month high of $68.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 0.77.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.32 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Ituran Location and Control Ltd. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Ituran Location and Control Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.01%.

Ituran Location and Control 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.