Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on DAL. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.4 %

NYSE:DAL opened at $64.09 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.31. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. 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 currently 11.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently 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.