Ieq Capital LLC Grows Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 63.5% in Q1, owning 103,928 shares valued at approximately $4.53 million.
• Delta Air Lines reported quarterly earnings of $2.10 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates, but revenue was down 0.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.15, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 63.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,928 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,347 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $189,081,000 after buying an additional 4,255,262 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,232,974 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,909,000 after buying an additional 3,286,741 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,469.9% during the 1st quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,309,020 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $144,273,000 after buying an additional 3,098,237 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter worth $122,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,370,795 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares in the company, valued at $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $151,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DAL. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.9%

DAL stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.65. 4,555,505 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,480,581. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.54 and a 200-day moving average of $50.65. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The business's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. 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. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Delta Air Lines 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.