Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.67.

DAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $46.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $49.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.51. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $47.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

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

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.64%.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,528,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 4,860 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 19,702 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.