Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 165,192 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 58.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 449,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165,192 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Delta Air Lines worth $18,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $217,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 7,616 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,918 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.79.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $47.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.60 and a 12 month high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The transportation company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $14.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.55 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 46.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.59%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.