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

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,400 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the November 30th total of 39,100 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 66,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Performance

ITRN traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $29.85. 125,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 59,109. The stock has a market capitalization of $593.84 million, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.35. Ituran Location and Control has a one year low of $24.12 and a one year high of $31.64.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. Ituran Location and Control’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ituran Location and Control

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ITRN. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ituran Location and Control during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Ituran Location and Control in the third quarter valued at about $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Ituran Location and Control by 132.1% during the third 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 period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.