Analysts Set Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) Price Target at $550.33

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $550.3333.

ESLT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Elbit Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Elbit Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Elbit Systems from $530.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Elbit Systems in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $531.00 target price on the stock.

Elbit Systems Stock Performance

Elbit Systems stock opened at $683.36 on Monday. Elbit Systems has a 12-month low of $279.09 and a 12-month high of $688.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $523.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $491.56.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.60. Elbit Systems had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 5.91%.The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Elbit Systems will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elbit Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elbit Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 3,162.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 648,104 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $330,404,000 after purchasing an additional 628,236 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elbit Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,673,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Elbit Systems by 35.1% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 610,977 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $271,438,000 after acquiring an additional 158,689 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Elbit Systems by 226.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 193,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,006,000 after acquiring an additional 134,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Elbit Systems by 27.3% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 471,839 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $210,967,000 after acquiring an additional 101,083 shares during the period. 17.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.