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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.22.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen boosted 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, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $59.88 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.57. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,380,820,000 after purchasing an additional 456,465 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $968,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $918,419,000 after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.