Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) Short Interest Down 24.7% in March

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 140,500 shares, a drop of 24.7% from the March 15th total of 186,600 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 64,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESLT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 874,352 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $229,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,215 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 449,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $117,520,000 after buying an additional 41,401 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Elbit Systems by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 338,256 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $87,294,000 after buying an additional 39,095 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Elbit Systems by 177.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 227,102 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $59,207,000 after acquiring an additional 145,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Elbit Systems by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,703 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,158,000 after acquiring an additional 18,614 shares in the last quarter. 17.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Elbit Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Elbit Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESLT traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $406.22. 45,139 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,689. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $360.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.12. Elbit Systems has a 52 week low of $175.30 and a 52 week high of $420.00. The company has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.44 and a beta of 0.32.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The aerospace company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Elbit Systems had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 4.00%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a boost from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.72%.

About Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems Ltd. develops and supplies a portfolio of airborne, land, and naval systems and products for the defense, homeland security, and commercial aviation applications primarily in Israel. The company operates through Aerospace, C4I and Cyber, ISTAR and EW, Land, and Elbit Systems of America segments.