First Trust Advisors LP Has $4.31 Million Stock Position in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,673 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $4,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRN. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 909.3% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 539,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $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 buying 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 buying an additional 68,222 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 90.8% in the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 137,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,331,000 after buying an additional 65,502 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 125,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 52,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of ITRN stock opened at $56.58 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.34. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.79. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a twelve month low of $32.71 and a twelve month high of $68.30.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $102.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.32 million. As a group, equities 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 24th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ITRN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a research note 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 research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ituran Location and Control to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ituran Location and Control currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

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.