Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Releases Q3 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued an update on its third quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.70-2.00 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04. The company issued revenue guidance of +2-4% yr/yr to ~$14.84-15.13 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $15.36 billion. Delta Air Lines also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.000-7.000 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.0 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $53.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $15.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 7.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 5.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set a buy rating and a $72.80 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $60.36.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,919 shares of company stock worth $8,834,653 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% 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.