RWC Asset Management LLP Has $2.35 Million Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Key Points

• RWC Asset Management LLP increased its investment in Delta Air Lines by 573.2% during the first quarter, holding $2.35 million worth of shares at the end of the period.
• Delta Air Lines recently reported an EPS of $2.10 for the last quarter, surpassing the analysts' expectation of $2.01, though revenue was slightly below estimates.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.37%, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.70%.

RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 573.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,933 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,921 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP's holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $2,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. one8zero8 LLC grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.1% in the first quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 55.4% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 51,318 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,237,000 after buying an additional 18,297 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.8% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 33,817 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 547,991 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,892,000 after buying an additional 41,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 6.5% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 147,099 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,414,000 after purchasing an additional 8,966 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total transaction of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. The trade was a 25.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,948,567.98. This trade represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price objective on Delta Air Lines and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $65.00 target price on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $55.62. The stock had a trading volume of 6,536,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,785,488. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $50.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm has a market cap of $36.32 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.49.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. Delta Air Lines's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.70%.

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.