Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.40.

A number of research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DAL opened at $54.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.43. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $56.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 8.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $719,526,000 after purchasing an additional 49,712 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 worth $471,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,528,883 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $168,928,000 after acquiring an additional 208,436 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 96.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,487,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $119,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,074 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 17.0% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,826,473 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $87,433,000 after purchasing an additional 265,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.