Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines, purchasing 640,426 shares valued at approximately $27.9 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Multiple Wall Street analysts have upgraded their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup raising theirs to $67.00 and $65.50 respectively, reflecting a general positive outlook.
• Delta Air Lines recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, showcasing strengthening financial performance amid mixed revenue results.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 640,426 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $27,923,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Delta Air Lines at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,242,852 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $315,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 66.9% in 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,182,789 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $313,559,000 after buying an additional 447,560 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 4,746,535 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $287,165,000 after buying an additional 1,019,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.2%

DAL traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,846,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,539,049. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $54.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The company had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a boost 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value 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 $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DAL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of "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.