Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. significantly reduced its stake in Delta Air Lines by 70.3%, owning 21,049 shares valued at $918,000 after selling 49,748 shares in the first quarter.
• Delta Air Lines recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.1875 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.2%.
• Analysts have set price targets for Delta Air Lines stocks ranging from $63.00 to $72.00, generally rating the stock as a "Buy" with a consensus target price of $66.21.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lessened its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 70.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,049 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 49,748 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 6.6%

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $3.7920 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.6320. The stock had a trading volume of 10,298,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,192,062. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 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. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $53.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.88.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $151,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. This represents a 6.99% 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 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.