Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

Several equities research analysts have commented on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. HSBC began coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $39.07 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $45.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.96. The firm has a market cap of $25.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.26 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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,053 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $719,526,000 after purchasing an additional 49,712 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $346,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914,301 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $260,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,221 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is 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.