162,432 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Acquired by FORA Capital LLC

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines, purchasing 162,432 shares valued at approximately $7.08 million, which constitutes about 0.7% of their portfolio.
• Delta Air Lines reported an EPS of $2.10 for the last quarter, exceeding the expected $2.01, but experienced a slight revenue decline compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.2%, up from the previous dividend of $0.15.

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 162,432 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $7,082,000. Delta Air Lines makes up about 0.7% of FORA Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 161,395 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 9,034 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,361 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $160,900,000 after buying an additional 92,772 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 152.3% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 39,374 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 2,973 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4% during the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.84. 4,846,135 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,539,049. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $40.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.82.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.51 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DAL. HSBC increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average 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.