Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Shares Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has significantly increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,169.4%, acquiring 6,677 additional shares to total 7,248 shares valued at approximately $316,000.
• Delta Air Lines reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.10 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, despite a slight year-over-year revenue drop of 0.1%.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.1875 per share, with plans to distribute it to shareholders on August 21st, reflecting a commitment to returning value to investors.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 1,169.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,248 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 6,677 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $918,419,000 after buying an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $670,994,000 after buying an additional 92,208 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 66.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,182,789 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $313,559,000 after purchasing an additional 447,560 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.67. The company had a trading volume of 6,634,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,852,598. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.49. The company has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.56. 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 twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during 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%. Delta Air Lines's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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 year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total transaction of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DAL shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

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.