Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group restated their buy rating on shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $83.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.2 %

DAL stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.07. The company had a trading volume of 9,852,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,398,935. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.06 and a 200-day moving average of $48.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $35.28 and a one year high of $66.25. The stock has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.