Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Delta Air Lines shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $89.32 amid strong recent momentum. The stock is well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, reflecting a notable upward trend.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Delta, with most rating it a Buy and several recently raising price targets. The current consensus rating is Moderate Buy, though the average target price of $82.68 is below the recent trading level.
• Delta delivered solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its dividend to $0.215 per quarter. The increase lifts the annualized dividend to $0.86 per share, for a 1.0% yield.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.32 and last traded at $88.6170, with a volume of 1019016 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Argus lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. 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 research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.68.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $59.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.34 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is 12.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 137.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $958,538,000 after acquiring an additional 7,994,004 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $471,532,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,270,241 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $815,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,773,945 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,579.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,673,400 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $185,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,193 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,155,776 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $426,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,521 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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