Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) Short Interest Up 30.7% in August

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

Institutional Trading of Ituran Location and Control

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 483,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,884,000 after buying an additional 85,023 shares during the period. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 555.2% in the 4th quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 50,115 shares during the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 179,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,429,000 after purchasing an additional 33,958 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 444,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,941,000 after purchasing an additional 33,593 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control during the 1st quarter worth about $875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Ituran Location and Control Price Performance

Ituran Location and Control stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $27.46. 50,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,765. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.71. The company has a market capitalization of $546.29 million, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.15. Ituran Location and Control has a 52-week low of $24.01 and a 52-week high of $30.10.

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

Ituran Location and Control Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.