Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09, Zacks reports. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.1%

DAL stock opened at $56.72 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $37.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $60.00 target price on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Delta Air Lines stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.