Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target Raised to $60.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price target lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $61.83.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $48.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.66. The company has a market capitalization of $31.25 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $53.86.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.01). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $15.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.18 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, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.90 per share, with a total value of $439,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $878,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DAL. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 192,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,746,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 121.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 241,039 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,697,000 after acquiring an additional 132,057 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 84,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,413,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares in the last quarter. 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.