Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $2.72 Million in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 87,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,718,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Ituran Location and Control at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Ituran Location and Control in the 3rd quarter worth $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 214.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Ituran Location and Control by 132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Ituran Location and Control Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ ITRN traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $36.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 79,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,678. The company has a market capitalization of $727.13 million, a PE ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.10. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 52 week low of $24.12 and a 52 week high of $45.43. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $37.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.76.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 15.65%. The company had revenue of $82.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.81 million.

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Ituran Location and Control's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Ituran Location and Control's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ituran Location and Control from $35.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Ituran Location and Control 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.