Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $41.42, but opened at $43.22. Ituran Location and Control shares last traded at $42.12, with a volume of 219,074 shares trading hands.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Up 1.1 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.25. The stock has a market cap of $833.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.15.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. Ituran Location and Control had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 28.31%.

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRN. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 16.4% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 516,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,713,000 after purchasing an additional 72,656 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 274,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,553,000 after buying an additional 56,956 shares during the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 233,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,264,000 after buying an additional 48,850 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,119,000 after acquiring an additional 18,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Ituran Location and Control by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 158,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 38,652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

About Ituran Location and Control

Ituran Location and Control Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides location based telematics services and machine-to-machine telematics products. It operates through two segments, Telematics Services and Telematics Products. The Telematics services segment offers stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, which enables to locate, track, and recover stolen vehicles for its subscribers; fleet management services that enable corporate and individual customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time; and locator services that allow customers to protect valuable merchandise and equipment.