Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Grows Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,395 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,034 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $7,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 414.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DAL. Barclays dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group set a $66.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Delta Air Lines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.67.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.24. 10,794,796 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,725,269. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $46.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.51.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 28.18% and a net margin of 5.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 10.64%.

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.