Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $80.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.33, but opened at $48.42. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines shares last traded at $48.35, with a volume of 4,629,637 shares.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.93, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.47 and its 200-day moving average is $57.95.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

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.