Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Sells 500,000 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Key Points

• Southpoint Capital Advisors reduced its Delta Air Lines stake by 33.3%, selling 500,000 shares in the first quarter and retaining 1 million shares valued at approximately $66.5 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 23 Buy ratings and two Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $100.40. Delta also exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.56 in EPS and $17.67 billion in revenue.
• Delta increased its quarterly dividend to $0.215 per share, or $0.86 annually, representing a 1.0% yield and a 14.26% payout ratio.

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP trimmed its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000,000 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 500,000 shares during the quarter. Delta Air Lines accounts for 1.4% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned about 0.15% of Delta Air Lines worth $66,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. SWAN Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,016.0% in the 3rd quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 558 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 451.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus set a $105.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.40.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total transaction of $2,036,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 95,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,738,836. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 9,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $737,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 138,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,552,904. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 65,331 shares of company stock worth $5,036,638 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock opened at $86.64 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $84.13 and its 200-day moving average is $73.68. The company has a market cap of $56.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.44 and a twelve month high of $95.68.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.07. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 5.79%.The firm had revenue of $17.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is 14.26%.

Delta Air Lines Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.

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