Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) saw a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 103,500 shares, a drop of 52.2% from the January 15th total of 216,600 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 51,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESLT. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 958.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 403,865 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $70,307,000 after acquiring an additional 365,693 shares during the last quarter. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 207.0% in the third quarter. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. now owns 307,111 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,664,000 after acquiring an additional 207,066 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,599,615 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,002,000 after acquiring an additional 193,235 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 12.0% in the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 867,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $126,865,000 after acquiring an additional 92,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 1,041.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 58,732 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,507,000 after acquiring an additional 53,588 shares during the last quarter. 17.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Separately, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Elbit Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 25th.
Shares of Elbit Systems stock opened at $173.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.46. Elbit Systems has a fifty-two week low of $122.85 and a fifty-two week high of $182.85.
Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 22nd. The aerospace company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 6.47% and a return on equity of 16.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Elbit Systems will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 20th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Elbit Systems’s payout ratio is presently 20.26%.
Elbit Systems Company Profile
Elbit Systems Ltd. is a technology company, which engages in the development and distribution of defense and homeland security solutions. Its portfolio includes airborne, land, and naval systems and products for defense, homeland security, and commercial applications. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.