Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 358 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in 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. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $66.00 price target on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $60.00 price target on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.67.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $49.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.28. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 28.18% and a net margin of 5.91%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 10.64%.

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.