Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) Short Interest Down 21.6% in March

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 209,380 shares, a drop of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 267,003 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 202,659 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Elbit Systems from $580.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research raised Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elbit Systems news, EVP Haim Daniel Delmar sold 7,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $887.40, for a total value of $6,792,159.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oren Yaacov Sabag sold 8,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $887.40, for a total transaction of $7,546,449.60. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 69,736 shares of company stock worth $61,883,726 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elbit Systems

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESLT. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 741 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in Elbit Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 7,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in Elbit Systems by 1.1% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Elbit Systems by 2.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,193 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners lifted its position in Elbit Systems by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.88% of the company’s stock.

Elbit Systems Price Performance

ESLT traded down $29.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $869.79. 135,565 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 167,737. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 76.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $833.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $651.46. Elbit Systems has a 1 year low of $369.00 and a 1 year high of $1,016.06.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The aerospace company reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 15.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This is a boost from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.31%.

About Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based defense electronics company that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of systems for military, homeland security and commercial aviation customers. The company focuses on integrated, platform-level solutions that combine sensors, communications, command-and-control software and weapons integration to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), force protection and mission management.

Its product and service portfolio spans unmanned aircraft systems, electro-optic and signal intelligence systems, electronic warfare and communications equipment, avionics and mission systems for military and commercial aircraft, and land and naval systems.