Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.37.

A number of research firms have recently commented on DAL. Citigroup lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Delta Air Lines from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.21. 18,916,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,417,475. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company's 50-day moving average price is $44.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.40. The company has a market cap of $33.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 742,773 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $37,725,000 after buying an additional 19,124 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $571,000. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $382,000. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 25,422 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 659 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently 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.