Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes $12.53 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. has acquired 287,428 shares of Delta Air Lines, valued at approximately $12.5 million, as part of a recent investment strategy.
• Delta Air Lines recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.10, exceeding analysts' expectations, but experienced a 0.1% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• Delta Air Lines has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, which will be paid on August 21st, reflecting a robust payout ratio of 10.87%.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 287,428 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $12,532,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $918,419,000 after acquiring an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $670,994,000 after acquiring an additional 92,208 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $602,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,915,545 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $257,918,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,795 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.49. 790,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,890,180. The firm has a market cap of $34.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $51.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.78. Delta Air Lines, Inc. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. Delta Air Lines's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

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.