Alliancebernstein L.P. Makes New $2.33 Million Investment in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 74,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,329,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.38% of Ituran Location and Control at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 58.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 39,464 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 14,527 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the third quarter valued at about $767,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the fourth quarter valued at about $835,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Ituran Location and Control by 214.2% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 132.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Shares of Ituran Location and Control stock traded up $0.63 on Tuesday, hitting $33.35. 50,578 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 97,244. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $36.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $663.46 million, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.90. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a one year low of $24.12 and a one year high of $45.43.

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

Ituran Location and Control Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. This is a boost from Ituran Location and Control's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Ituran Location and Control's payout ratio is currently 73.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.