Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $40.28, but opened at $39.03. Ituran Location and Control shares last traded at $37.35, with a volume of 81,833 shares trading hands.

The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $86.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.17 million. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 16.35%.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 71.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Ituran Location and Control from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in Ituran Location and Control during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 327.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 148.9% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $710.41 million, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.35.

Ituran Location and Control Company Profile

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.