Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 71,580 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 109.3% in the first quarter, owning a total of 137,041 shares valued at approximately $5.975 million.
• Delta Air Lines recently reported $2.10 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue fell slightly compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a new quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, reflecting a positive increase from its prior dividend and a yield of 1.2%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 109.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,041 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,580 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $189,081,000 after purchasing an additional 4,255,262 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 347.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% in the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $144,273,000 after acquiring an additional 3,098,237 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth about $122,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 worth $257,918,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,795 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DAL shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of DAL traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.62. 1,774,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,399,502. The company has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.47. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The business had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. This trade represents a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.