Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.15 Per Share

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the transportation company on Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10.

Delta Air Lines has decreased its dividend by an average of 20.8% annually over the last three years. Delta Air Lines has a dividend payout ratio of 8.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Delta Air Lines to earn $7.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.3%.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $44.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.82. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $30.60 and a 12 month high of $53.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 6.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $15.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $439,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $439,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $878,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 4,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.30, for a total transaction of $253,445.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 112,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,879,618.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on DAL. Bank of America raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

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.