Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on DAL. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.5%

DAL opened at $68.43 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.65. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.56%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 14,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $858,112.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,816 shares in the company, valued at $968,730. This represents a 46.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 23,323 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $1,453,722.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,055,523.97. This represents a 22.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,493 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.