Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Purchased by Evergreen Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased their holdings in Delta Air Lines by 13.1%, acquiring a total of 224,071 shares worth approximately $9.77 million in the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $67.00 and the consensus rating being "Buy" with an average price target of $66.21.
• Delta Air Lines declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.1875, marking a boost from the previous dividend and representing an annual yield of 1.2%.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 224,071 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 25,935 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $9,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,255,262 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,286,741 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,098,237 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at $122,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna set a $65.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bernstein Bank raised their target price 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. HSBC raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $61.16. The stock had a trading volume of 6,923,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,517,293. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $55.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock worth $7,663,496 over the last 90 days. 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.