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

Key Points

• Delta Air Lines has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 26 firms, with 23 buy ratings and an average 12-month target price of about $80.85.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, posting EPS of $0.64 versus estimates of $0.61 and revenue of $14.20 billion versus $14.05 billion, with revenue up 9.4% year over year.
• Delta also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, which annualizes to $0.75 for a yield of about 0.9%; meanwhile, several insiders sold shares in recent months.

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.8458.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $83.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $73.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $45.28 and a fifty-two week high of $83.83.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at $10,574,466. This trade represents a 3.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% in the third quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.

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