Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Purchases New Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired 1.1 million shares of Delta Air Lines, valued at approximately $47.96 million, increasing its stake to about 0.17% of the company.
• Delta Air Lines reported $2.10 EPS for its last quarter, surpassing expectations, but with a slight revenue decline of 0.1% year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1875, marking a boost from the previous $0.15 and reflecting a 1.2% yield.

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,100,000 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $47,960,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned approximately 0.17% of Delta Air Lines as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 64,811 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,921,000 after buying an additional 6,589 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 1,894 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,289 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,950,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company's stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $61.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $55.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.57. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 $15.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. The company's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Delta Air Lines's payout ratio is currently 10.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at $35,615,278.44. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Company 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.

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