Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $75.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines traded as high as $64.10 and last traded at $63.89, with a volume of 551076 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.56.

DAL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total transaction of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,130.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total transaction of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $719,526,000 after purchasing an additional 49,712 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $281,206,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,344,414 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $169,863,000 after buying an additional 14,624 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.33%.

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.