Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on DAL. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $63.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $35.46 and a twelve month high of $66.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.47.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 13.8% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.0% during the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.