Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Down 20.4% in March

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,080,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the February 28th total of 26,480,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of DAL traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,967,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,101,419. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The stock has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased 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. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 414.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.29.

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.