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

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.22.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.1 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $66.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.09. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $42.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,130.14. This represents a 11.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,150 shares of company stock worth $8,735,936 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.