Short Interest in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) Increases By 8.4%

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 107,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the December 15th total of 98,700 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 34,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elbit Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESLT. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 912,307 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $161,177,000 after buying an additional 18,014 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 336,836 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $67,264,000 after acquiring an additional 98,440 shares in the last quarter. Heard Capital LLC increased its stake in Elbit Systems by 4.8% in the third quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 218,392 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $43,700,000 after purchasing an additional 10,070 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 12.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 170,703 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $34,158,000 after purchasing an additional 18,614 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 79,626 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $15,896,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Elbit Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th.

Elbit Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESLT traded up $3.91 on Monday, hitting $297.82. The stock had a trading volume of 35,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,776. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $257.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.15. Elbit Systems has a twelve month low of $175.30 and a twelve month high of $298.83. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91 and a beta of 0.52.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Elbit Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Elbit Systems's payout ratio is presently 28.38%.

Elbit Systems Company Profile

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.