Phoenix Financial Ltd. Acquires New Position in Elbit Systems Ltd. $ESLT

Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 25,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,250,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESLT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Elbit Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $229,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elbit Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elbit Systems by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Elbit Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $235,000. 17.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESLT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $520.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Elbit Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Elbit Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Elbit Systems in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Elbit Systems from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elbit Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.00.

Elbit Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESLT opened at $490.65 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $489.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.71. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $207.71 and a twelve month high of $529.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 55.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.33.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 13th. The aerospace company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.66. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 14th. This is a positive change from Elbit Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Elbit Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.38%.

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.