Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL Shares Purchased by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.9%, owning 150,407 shares valued at approximately $6.56 million.
• Delta Air Lines reported $2.10 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.01, despite a slight revenue decline of 0.1% year-over-year.
• The company has recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.2%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 10.87%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,407 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,672 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $6,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 104,960 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,576,000 after buying an additional 14,188 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,204 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at about $122,849,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 34.0% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the first quarter valued at about $1,192,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded down $1.5140 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $58.9860. The stock had a trading volume of 4,164,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,720,483. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.56. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $53.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.06.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The company had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,003,684.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.