Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Reaches New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Delta Air Lines hit a new 52-week high of $76.95, reflecting strong recent stock momentum as it trades above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Recent analyst action has been mostly positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target of $79.76.
• The company beat first-quarter earnings expectations, reported better-than-expected revenue, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, equal to a 1.0% annual yield.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $76.95 and last traded at $75.8520, with a volume of 400149 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.76.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $50.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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 $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 10.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John E. Laughter sold 69,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.15, for a total value of $4,723,067.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,497.35. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total value of $7,026,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at $95,795,856.48. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 204,925 shares of company stock worth $14,323,395. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 102.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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