Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Short Interest Update

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 57,000 shares, a growth of 30.7% from the August 15th total of 43,600 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 67,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 21.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 483,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,884,000 after purchasing an additional 85,023 shares in the last quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 555.2% during the fourth quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 50,115 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 23.3% in the second quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 179,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,429,000 after acquiring an additional 33,958 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 8.2% in the second quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 444,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,941,000 after purchasing an additional 33,593 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the first quarter valued at $875,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Shares of ITRN stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $27.46. The company had a trading volume of 50,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,765. The stock has a market capitalization of $546.29 million, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day moving average is $26.71. Ituran Location and Control has a fifty-two week low of $24.01 and a fifty-two week high of $30.10.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 28.43% and a net margin of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $84.87 million during the quarter.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.40%.

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.