Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Acquired by Capital International Investors

Key Points

• Capital International Investors increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 24.2 million shares worth about $1.68 billion. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own nearly 70% of the airline’s stock.
• Delta reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.64 versus estimates of $0.61 on revenue of $14.2 billion, up 9.4% year over year. Analysts still expect the company to earn 5.37 EPS for the full year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising or maintaining bullish targets and the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus and average price target of $80.85. Delta also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, implying a 0.9% annualized yield.

Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,211,101 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,012,265 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned approximately 3.71% of Delta Air Lines worth $1,680,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 102.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 357,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.6% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DAL. Argus increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Susquehanna cut their price target on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.0%

DAL opened at $79.55 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $45.28 and a one year high of $83.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50 day moving average price is $71.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is presently 10.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $2,036,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,738,836. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,574,466. The trade was a 3.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 149,635 shares of company stock valued at $10,833,855 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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