Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives $79.76 Average Target Price from Analysts

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.7625.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL stock opened at $76.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.23 and its 200 day moving average is $67.20. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $45.28 and a 52 week high of $77.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,795,856.48. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,497.35. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 204,925 shares of company stock worth $14,323,395. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth about $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 102.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 357,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.