TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price target raised by TD Cowen from $59.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DAL stock opened at $64.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $35.28 and a 1 year high of $66.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 56.5% in the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 57,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,932,000 after acquiring an additional 20,846 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 18.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 71,389 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after buying an additional 11,094 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 14.0% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,541 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 34,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 8,402 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 375,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,072,000 after acquiring an additional 23,205 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.