Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on DAL. Seaport Global Securities boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $70.00 price target on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.11.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $57.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.56. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.50.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 7.36%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.56%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $151,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,971.50. This trade represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,050 shares of company stock worth $5,139,795. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after buying an additional 9,034 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $160,900,000 after purchasing an additional 92,772 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 152.3% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.