Ituran Location & Control Ltd. (NASDAQ: ITRN)

Sector: Technology Industry: Scientific & Technical Instruments CIK: 0001337117
Market Cap 857.47 Mn
P/B 4.04
P/E 15.17
P/S 2.46
ROIC (Qtr) 27.54
Div Yield % 4.39
Rev 1y % (Qtr) 10.54
Total Debt (Qtr) 4.85 Mn
Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.02

About

Ituran Location & Control Ltd., known by its ticker symbol ITRN, is a prominent player in the telematics industry. This company provides a range of services, including stolen vehicle recovery, fleet management, and other tracking services. It operates in Israel, Brazil, and other regions, with telematics services and products forming the core of its business activities. Revenue for Ituran primarily comes from two sources: subscription fees for its telematics services and sales/leases of telematics products. The company's primary product is the...

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Price action

Investment thesis

Bull case

  • Strong operating cash flow of 81.92M provides robust 16.88x coverage of total debt 4.85M, indicating excellent debt servicing capability and financial flexibility.
  • Strong tangible asset base of 327.43M provides 67.48x coverage of total debt 4.85M, indicating robust asset backing and low credit risk.
  • Operating cash flow of 81.92M provides exceptional 32.81x coverage of minority interest expenses 2.50M, showing strong core operations.
  • Operating cash flow of 81.92M provides exceptional 67.87x coverage of interest expenses 1.21M, showing strong debt service capability.
  • Robust free cash flow of 60.90M exceeds capital expenditure of 21.02M by 2.90x, indicating strong organic growth funding capability.

Bear case

  • Operating cash flow of 81.92M barely covers its investment activities of (23.71M), with a coverage ratio of -3.46, indicating heavy reliance on external financing for growth which may not be sustainable in a tighter credit environment.
  • Investment activities of (23.71M) provide weak support for R&D spending of 20.14M, which is -1.18x, suggesting potentially insufficient investment in innovation relative to other capital deployment.
  • Operating cash flow of 81.92M provides thin coverage of dividend payments of (35.41M) with a -2.31 ratio, suggesting potential dividend sustainability issues if operational performance deteriorates.
  • High receivables of 62.06M relative to inventory of 25.67M (2.42 ratio) suggests aggressive credit terms or collection difficulties, potentially masking revenue quality issues.
  • Free cash flow of 60.90M represents just -373.60x of debt issuance (163000), suggesting concerning reliance on leverage rather than internal cash generation for growth.

Peer comparison

Companies in the Scientific & Technical Instruments
S.No. Ticker Company Market Cap P/E P/S Total Debt (Qtr)
1 GRMN Garmin Ltd 38.77 Bn 24.68 5.58 0.16 Bn
2 KEYS Keysight Technologies, Inc. 34.91 Bn 41.07 6.49 2.78 Bn
3 COHR Coherent Corp. 28.91 Bn 244.51 4.78 3.51 Bn
4 TDY Teledyne Technologies Inc 23.87 Bn 29.19 3.98 2.53 Bn
5 TRMB Trimble Inc. 19.54 Bn 54.65 5.43 1.39 Bn
6 FTV Fortive Corp 18.68 Bn 31.02 3.31 3.31 Bn
7 MKSI Mks Inc 10.78 Bn 38.63 2.81 4.55 Bn
8 CGNX Cognex Corp 6.14 Bn 55.76 6.32 0.08 Bn

Industry comparisons

Current Valuation Value Ind Avg Percentile
EV to Assets EV to Assets 2.06 2.20
EV to Cash from Ops. EV/CFO 9.45 9.84
EV to Debt EV to Debt 159.50 22.70
EV to EBIT EV/EBIT 10.70 15.74
EV to EBITDA EV/EBITDA 8.29 11.58
EV to Free Cash Flow [EV/FCF] EV/FCF 12.71 24.79
EV to Market Cap EV to Market Cap 0.90 -2.78
EV to Revenue EV/Rev 2.22 6.45
Price to Book Value [P/B] P/B 4.04 7.12
Price to Earnings [P/E] P/E 15.17 13.89
Dividend Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Dividend Coverage Ratio Div Coverage (Qtr) 1.60 -16.40
Dividend Payout Ratio % Div Payout % (Qtr) 66.50 -7.19
Dividend per Basic Share Div per Share (Qtr) 1.89 0.31
FCF Dividend Payout Ratio % FCF Div Payout % (Qtr) 61.72 6.83
Interest Coverage Int. cover (Qtr) 59.90 -13.61
Growth Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Capex Growth (1y) % Capex 1y % (Qtr) -64.89 -21.70
Cash and Equivalents Growth (1y) % Cash & Equiv 1y % (Qtr) 37.96 101.63
Dividend Growth (1y) % Div 1y % (Qtr) 34.04 1.97
EBIAT Growth (1y) % EBIAT 1y % (Qtr) 8.45 19.84
EBITDA Growth (1y) % EBITDA 1y % (Qtr) 3.33 17.31
EBIT Growth (1y) % EBIT 1y % (Qtr) 7.77 20.90
EBT Growth (1y) % EBT 1y % (Qtr) 8.37 82.68
EPS Growth (1y) % EPS 1y % (Qtr) 8.40 65.55
FCF Growth (1y) % FCF 1y % (Qtr) 0.48 32.88
Gross Profit Growth (1y) % Gross Profit 1y % (Qtr) 9.23 34.27
Liquidity Ratios Value Ind Avg Percentile
Asset Utilization Ratio Asset Util Ratio (Qtr) 0.93 0.49
Cash Payout Ratio Cash Payout (Qtr) 0.34 0.05
Cash Ratio Cash Ratio (Qtr) 0.91 2.99
Current Ratio Curr Ratio (Qtr) 2.25 4.83
Debt to Equity Ratio Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.02 0.67
Interest Cover Ratio Int Coverage (Qtr) 59.90 -13.61
Times Interest Earned Times Interest Earned (Qtr) 59.90 -13.61
Profitability Value Ind Avg Percentile
EBITDA Margin % EBITDA Margin % (Qtr) 26.10 -296.15
EBIT Margin % EBIT Margin % (Qtr) 20.75 -316.09
EBT Margin % EBT Margin % (Qtr) 20.41 -351.37
Gross Margin % Gross Margin % (Qtr) 49.50 40.05
Net Profit Margin % Net Margin % (Qtr) 16.20 -354.10