Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Trading Down 4.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s share price was down 4.7% on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $77.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines traded as low as $45.21 and last traded at $44.50. Approximately 2,206,379 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 8,649,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.68.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.60.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares in the company, valued at $2,479,212.12. The trade was a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 314.0% during the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 27,654 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,452,000 after acquiring an additional 416,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth about $189,296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 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, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. 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.