Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.60, but opened at $42.33. Delta Air Lines shares last traded at $41.30, with a volume of 3,561,434 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DAL. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. CWC Advisors LLC. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 15,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $660,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,920 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after acquiring an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $252,000. 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.