Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $50.70, but opened at $56.20. Delta Air Lines shares last traded at $57.29, with a volume of 18,298,246 shares changing hands.

The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 28.18%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,179,508,000 after buying an additional 514,264 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,800,754,000 after buying an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $968,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,648 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after purchasing an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after purchasing an additional 92,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 13.1%

The business's 50 day moving average is $48.87 and its 200 day moving average is $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $37.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.49.

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.

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