LSV Asset Management Increases Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,528,883 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 208,436 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $168,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 34,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,839,122 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $401,048,000 after acquiring an additional 865,746 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 12.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 69,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,555,000 after buying an additional 7,503 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 72.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 4,947 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $1,596,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,672,495.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,834,653. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL stock traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.62. 16,672,282 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,706,695. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.48. The stock has a market cap of $28.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.79, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $53.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.41.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $15.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 5.14%.

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.