Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $85.75 Million Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 30.1%, selling 846,145 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 1.97 million shares valued at $85.75 million.
• Delta Air Lines reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicates a return on equity of 24.86%, despite a slight year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, which will be distributed on August 21st, reflecting a strong payout ratio of 10.87%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 30.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,966,754 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 846,145 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.30% of Delta Air Lines worth $85,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DAL. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,037,000 after buying an additional 9,034 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $160,900,000 after acquiring an additional 92,772 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 152.3% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% during the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 6,677 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a research 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $0.5980 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.4920. The company had a trading volume of 5,703,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,750,384. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.99. The stock has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during 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 revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.