Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 333.9% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $15.3 million.
• Delta Air Lines reported a Q2 EPS of $2.10, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.01, although revenue was slightly below estimates at $15.51 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, reflecting a positive change in its payout policy and a dividend yield of 1.2%.

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 333.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,474 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 269,703 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Delta Air Lines worth $15,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 514,264 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,681,464 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 149.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,963,882 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $246,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577,489 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in 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 valued at $257,918,000 after buying an additional 2,370,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after purchasing an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $60.75 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $56.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.

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