TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.56% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.77.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 23.8 %

DAL opened at $44.42 on Thursday. 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 $28.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 5.3% during the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 39,404 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 108.3% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 32,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 17,090 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 109,291.7% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 44,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,929,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 147,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,426,000 after buying an additional 8,367 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.