Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 32,390,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the November 15th total of 35,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DAL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $61.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.31. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $36.34 and a 1 year high of $67.50.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

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.