Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.83.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 10,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $603,582.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,607,112.48. This represents a 11.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $189,296,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth about $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after buying an additional 749,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $62.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.99. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $36.34 and a 1 year high of $67.50.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

About Delta Air Lines

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.