StockNews.com Upgrades Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $65.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.01. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $36.34 and a 1 year high of $68.99. The company has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. This trade represents a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,809 shares of company stock worth $7,871,765. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth $189,296,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after buying an additional 749,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after buying an additional 453,926 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.