A STONEY EXCLUSIVE. Usually I'll just troll the net and skim some investment sites and let the research flow where it does. In this case I'm still not sure how I cam across this stock... it started in reviewing a traders blog and seeing in January he bought the stock as an Israeli play nothing more but the symbol stuck in my head and I looked it up on Yahoo and found a Forbes article about a way of investing that centers on companies from places that are easy on corporate governance, this stock was highlighted by Forbes as a small cap to watch, a little more research and the internals of the co come to light... Ituran Location and Control, Ltd. provides location-based services principally consisting of stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services primarily in Israel, Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. The company locates, tracks, and recovers stolen vehicles for its subscribers using its stolen vehicle recovery system, as well as offers fleet management services that enable corporate customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time. It also provides wireless communication products for various applications in the automatic vehicle location (AVL), automatic meter reading (AMR), and radio frequency identification (RFID) markets. The company's AVL products include TULIP transmitters, MAPLE alarm systems, PAL portable transmitters, Base Site radio receivers, and Control Center software to enable the location and tracking of vehicles, as well as assets or persons. Its AMR products include TMW and UNIVERSAL transponders, MMR transceivers, and DS line of products to enable the remote reading of water meters. The company's RFID products comprise FP-100AT transponders, FP-300/FP100RA transceivers/readers, and FP-200HH hand-held transceivers to enable communication between mobile transponders and roadside readers, and are primarily used for electronic toll collection systems. Its RFID products also include Electronic Seal for Containers-FP-200SA products, which identify and report unauthorized entry to containers in transit. The company also sells its products in China and South Korea. It principally serves insurance companies and agents, car dealers and importers, co-operative sales channels, and private subscribers. Ituran was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Azour, Israel. And what we have is an interesting price history too from an 06 ipo @ $13 1/2 area went up to $18 then spent a two years in a $14- $16 channel when it broke $14 finally it got ugly, stopping briefly at $12 before triple bottoming down around $10...; The stk is $11.25 now my price objective is back to where it all fell apart $14. A look at the insides is promising.. earnings growth year over year is at a bit of a crossroads but Profit Margin:14.73% Operating Margin:19.62% Return on Assets :9.69% Return on Equity:17.30% Revenue:117.72M Revenue Per Share:5.057 Gross Profit:50.20M EBITDA: 29.27M Net Income Avl to Common:17.33M Diluted EPS :0.74 Only 35 thousand shares short and shares are tough to get a hold of with Shares Outstanding5: 23.34M Float: 23.22M % Held by Insiders1: 24.00% % Held by Institutions1: 13.80%.... With a trailing AND a forward PE of 15 I need to iron out next years numbers-- with earnings on the way Feb 21, stk is 8 cents away from re grabbing it's 200 day already over it's 50.... yet lots of chart upside ITURAN LOCATION & CONTROL - ITRN - Keep it in mind, I'm going to kick the tires more on Monday but have a feeling I'll end up in this Home Security / Military / RFID / Stolen vehicles in Brazil type foreign play. Think of their hot markets- they do water meter reading too! like Itron and they have a secret division that knows how to find downed Israeli pilots.... Certainly a most Interesting stock... ~ stoney
Alright folks this is why we do the deep research. Still no volume on this name today up 6% on great earnings...affording you a pull back chance to get in today and then fingers crossed barrons writes them up Sat. It's the type of nifty stock to get their attention. With all the numbers in place! Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ: ITRN, TASE: ITRN), today announced its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007. Highlights of the Fourth Quarter and Full Year - Strong top-line and subscriber growth. - Record annual revenues of $125 million, 20% increase over 2006; fourth quarter revenues $36.1 million, an increase of 25% year-over-year - The purchases of ERM and MAPA broadened the suite of location based products and services Ituran provides - Sold Telematics, increasing the cash position and refocusing the business on its core competencies - Record subscribers of 444,000 as of December 31st, 2007, an increase of 48,000 from the 396,000 subscribers as of December 31st, 2006 Fourth quarter Results Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 reached US$36.1 million. This represents a 24.6% increase compared with revenues of US$29.0 million in the fourth quarter of last year. The increase in revenues was primarily driven by the continued growth in the Company's subscriber base and revenues from the recently acquired ERM and MAPA businesses. This increase was partly offset by a decrease in revenues from the Far East which relates to the Telematics business. Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2007 excluding the other income was US$6.8 million (18.7% of revenues) compared with US$6.5 million (22.5% of revenues) in the fourth quarter of 2006. The lower operating margin was in part due to the fact that, as previously announced, the Company increased its investment in sales and marketing in 2007, as well as the devaluation of the US dollar against the Israeli shekel. EBITDA for the quarter was $8.9 million, which represents 24.5% of revenues compared to $7.8 million which represents 26.9% in the fourth quarter of last year. Financial income in the quarter was US$51 thousand as compared with a financial income of $734 thousand in the fourth quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily as a result of the devaluation of the US dollar against the Company's functional currency in Israel, the Israeli shekel. The Company recorded a one-time income of $49.5 million from the sale of Telematics on December 31st, 2007, and an associated tax expense of $13.7 million. Net profit on a GAAP basis was US$39.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with US$5.2, as reported in the fourth quarter of 2006. Fully diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis in the fourth quarter of 2007 was US$1.68 compared with US$0.22 per fully diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2006. Excluding the other income and the related tax expense, and a one-time write-off related to an affiliated company of $0.3 million, net profit was US$4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, or fully diluted earnings per share of $0.18. Full Year Results Revenues for the full year 2007 reached US$124.8 million. This represents a 20% increase compared with revenues of US$104.1 million last year. The increase in revenues was driven by the continued growth in the Company's subscriber base as well as the contribution by the recently acquired ERM and Mapa businesses. This increase was partly offset by a decrease in revenues from the Far East which relates to the Telematics business throughout 2007. Operating profit for the year excluding the other income was US$23.3 million compared with US$24.7 million in 2006. The lower operating profit was in part due to the increase in investment in sales and marketing in 2007, the lower revenue level in the Far East, and the relative increase in expenses due to the devaluation of the US dollar against the Israeli shekel. Annual net profit on a GAAP basis was US$51.5 million in 2007 or earnings per diluted share of $2.20, compared with US$19.3 million or earnings per diluted share of $0.82, as reported in 2006. Excluding the other income and the related tax expense, and a one-time write-off from an affiliated company of $0.3 million, net profit for the year was US$16.4, or fully diluted earnings per share of $0.70. Cash flow from operations during the fourth quarter and the full year of 2007 were US$4.8 million and US$12.8 million, respectively. As of December 31st, 2007 the Company had a net cash position (including marketable securities) of US$37.9 million (this does not include the proceeds from the sale of Telematics which were received in the beginning of 2008) compared with US$59.4 million on December 31st, 2006. Pro-forma full year results excluding Telematics As announced, the sale of Telematics was completed on December 31st, 2007. Excluding Telematics, the Company would have reported full year 2007 revenues of $104.7 million, operating income of $17.8 million and net income of $13.4 million or fully diluted earnings per share of $0.57, excluding the impact of the above mentioned one-time items. On February 20th, 2008, the Board of Directors declared a dividend distribution of a total of US$30 million or $1.34 per share. Eyal Sheratzky, Co-CEO of Ituran said, "2007 was a year of strong growth in our subscriber base and revenues. It was also a year in which we stepped up our operating expenses, in order to invest in expanding our business into new segments and improve our customer care and retention. In addition, our sale of Telematics at the end of the year, was a significant step in our strategy of focusing on our core competencies, that of providing a full suite of location based product and services." "Our sale of Telematics increased our cash position by $48.3 million to $98 million at the beginning of 2008," continued Mr. Sheratzki. "We have used a portion of our cash for purchasing 1.5 million shares of Ituran for a total of $17.6 million. In addition, we today announced a special dividend of $30 million. Following these actions, our cash position is expected to stand at approximately $50 million. We believe that this is the right way to share some of our success with our shareholders, while maintaining enough cash on our balance sheet for our future growth." "In 2008, we expect to see the fruits of our investments in 2007 and expect pro-forma double-digit top-line growth over the year with renewed growth in our profitability. Looking ahead, we have a lean business with a strong focus on what we do best, that of providing location based services and related applications. We believe that our business is now very well positioned, with great growth potential for years to come," concluded Mr. Sheratzky. This would be a company going the right direction! Considering I took all the risk at $11.25.... you are getting a gift at $11.60. ~stoney
Well here WE are, DAYS LATER and this darn stock is not reacting to those numbers which I though was huge. Lets see what S&P had to say as I think they were the ones who rained on the parade a bit here... ITURAN LOCATION AND CONTROL SHS (ITRN: NASDAQ) Services : Security Systems & Services 11.47 -0.03 (-0.26%) 11.45 x600 11.50 x200 27,924 NASDAQ Real time Quote S&P REITERATES HOLD RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF ITURAN LOCATION AND CONTROL S&P Marketscope - SNPMarketScopeResearchNotes2008-02-21 - REITERATES HOLD RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF ITURAN LOCATION AND CONTROL Excluding a one-time gain of $1.50 from the sale of Telematics, Q4 EPS of $0.18 vs. $0.22 beats our estimate by $0.22. Woa! wait a second is that a typo? "Excluding" means without, without the gain they still beat your number by... 22 cents! Revenue growth was better than we expected, as both subscriber additions and revenue per subscriber trends improved. What's the beef here S&P? ITRN also announces a special dividend of $1.37 per share, payable to shareholders of record on 3/26. WELL THAT'S SWEET! On expectations that favorable customer acquisition trends to continue, we are raising our '08 EPS estimate by $0.11 to $0.81. raising estimates significantly! That's good right? We are also increasing our 12-month target price by $2 to $13 on a revised blend of relative value and DCF.... I'll never understand these analysts, don't they know they are supposed to pre date their " upgrade " to the day before some good news and just let it fly with a $16 PT? This is sloppy work by a formally good outfit, I'm going to be probably buying this name LATER today out of spite.... it just doesn't get the volume that you like to see for a big winner.... But by any measure, value, growth, it deserves some. To be Continued ~ stoney
Well at least we are with good company. Value investor Seth Klarman buys Ituran stake Klarman is a portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, which has averaged returns of 20% since inception. Noted investor Seth Klarman has bought 1.2 million shares in Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (Nasdaq:ITRN); TASE:ITRN), 5.23% of the company, through Baupost Group for $12.4 million. Ituran has a market cap of $240 million. Ituran provides vehicle location and theft recovery services. Most customers are car fleets. A year ago, "The New York Times" reported that Klarman's hedge fund had an average annual return of 19.5% since it was founded in 1983. He is the author of "Margin of Safety", which costs around $2,000 a copy on Amazon or eBay. >> Can't afford his book but can the stock... just some back of the envelope math shows he paid near full price (i think)~ stoney
This stock yields 13% I forgot to mention. partially to stop myself from further investing I have put my money where my mouth is and bought my first high yield stock! That's right humbled by tech scared by china and shaken from countless others I am now officially in on my little Jewish high yield play- 2000 shares. I didn't have the nerve to run it by the hedge fund but I'm going with this guy who's book costs $2,000 and rolling the dice. Special div on the way too. ~stoney
Well folks what separates the truly great investors from the rest? I'll let you maul that over while I go through the gaudy details here and may i say I'M PISSED I DIDN'T GO EVEN BIGGER... but The ITRN company TRANSFERED TO MY ACCOUNT 04/08/08 Dividend ***ITURAN LOCATION AND CONTROLLTD CASH DIV ON... 2,680.00...... THAT'S RIGHT TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FREE DOLLARS! And OUR STOCK POSITION IS UP 6.7% TO BOOT. Quite frankly I'm not sure how any of this came about. I let my overall fear of the market force myself into a total return mind set and then of course as is the stonedinvesting way I had to find the most obscure, best and unknown way to do it and in two months time we have made almost 7% which wouldn't be bad on it's own considering in that same period the general market is down almost as much... this is called letting you investing guru go.... now the greed part kicks in; are there many of these companies with huge dividends who's stocks don't retreat after their issued....? I don't think so. I feel like selling today but perhaps someone out there upset with their Lojack wants to talk me out of it.... THIS IS ONE OF MY MOST BRILLIANT SCORES EVER - LITERALLY FREE MONEY- $2,680 bucks, you all could of had it, all you had to do was listen, listen to your own inner feelings and act in a unique way or just listen to me... and that value investor, god bless him, the one with the expensive book on ebay, because it was his full bore purchase that eventually pushed me in...~stoney
earnings again are good to decent from ITRN the only difference now is JP Morgan is upgrading long after we did. At $12.50 earlier today it's $12.00 now it could fall further but the essence of the investment is pretty tight. High growth in Brazil market can they spread out and keep growing? This stock is up against some good resistance, a longer view shows a big fall,,, as the stock rises the DIV I imagine will shrink. It's a gaudy 11% now and the stock is in an uptrend! Really no where else but on ET will you find a stock like this it's quite fascinating. I'm out now, too surprised by the fact that they actually transfered such a big dividend to me, but if the market were to decline a bit what a pick up this might be for you high yield lovers. take a look at the chart... is $14 unreasonable? $12 to $14 w 11% yield....>$11.60 might be our friend here... the trick to these high yield plays in my view, having watched a lot- is to buy on a really puke market days when the stk will be down 3% for no reason.... it will then bounce back when the market rightens and then you are in flat to 3% up and awaiting the cash... Total return 14% already!~ stoney
Well it's always nice to know when people are listening! I've gotten several messages from you all about ITRN and did it not work exactly as promised! Wait for a big down day and buy. Today you had a $12.11 print and lots of time to buy when the stk was down 1.7%. Now you are up positive on the day plus the 11% dividend plus they announced another 410 million buyback plus analysts have upgraded over the last few days!!!! Hooray! ~ stoney
No it is the Dodge car that is crap! This is a great company but I'd like to point out an typo that after a half hour is tough to fix on ET. The buyback was for ten million not 410! My caps key is broken and I have to hold down an uncomfortable peg to shift 4 is also $ and the line should of read the co has bought back another $10 million. ~stoney