Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

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

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $2,036,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $60.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $38.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

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.