Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $80.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.33, but opened at $48.42. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines shares last traded at $48.35, with a volume of 4,629,637 shares changing hands.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.4 %

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.