Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target Cut to $56.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $58.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $60.25.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.4 %

DAL stock opened at $47.44 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.15. The company has a market cap of $30.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.10, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,672,495.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DAL. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 26,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 788 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 122.5% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 821 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.