Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.22.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % 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 quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted 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 acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:DAL opened at $60.09 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.33 and its 200-day moving average is $57.09. 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 has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $38.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines 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 1.00%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.