Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $65.07 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $41.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $36.34 and a one year high of $68.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,809 shares of company stock worth $7,871,765 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Senator Investment Group LP increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.