Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.21.

Several research analysts have commented on DAL shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $53.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.23.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 8.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This trade represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.4% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,462 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 14.5% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.7% during the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 8,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth about $355,000. Finally, Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $268,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.