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

Key Points

• Delta Air Lines has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from twenty brokerages, with an average target price of $67.84.
• The company reported $2.10 earnings per share for its latest quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $2.01, despite a slight year-over-year revenue decline.
• Delta recently declared a $0.1875 quarterly dividend, with a yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on November 6th to investors of record on October 16th.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.8350.

Several research firms have weighed in on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $70.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of DAL opened at $58.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.28 and a 200 day moving average of $51.32. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $386,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $189,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% during the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,098,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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