RFG Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• RFG Advisory LLC has made a new investment in Delta Air Lines, purchasing 9,367 shares valued at approximately $461,000 during the second quarter.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Delta Air Lines, with Deutsche Bank setting its target at $72.00 and Morgan Stanley at $90.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• Delta Air Lines will distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share on November 6th, representing an annual yield of 1.3% with a modest payout ratio of 10.56%.

RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,367 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DAL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 109,977 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,795,000 after acquiring an additional 20,057 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 9,034 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 2,500 shares of Delta Air Lines 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,017,971.50. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,510 shares of company stock valued at $2,979,663. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $59.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.13. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $69.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 15th. The transportation company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 23.83% and a net margin of 7.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.56%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.