52,851 Shares in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Bought by Stevens Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has invested approximately $2.30 million in Delta Air Lines by acquiring 52,851 shares, according to their recent 13F filing.
• Delta Air Lines recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.1875 per share, up from the previous $0.15, signaling positive financial performance.
• Major investment analysts maintain a bullish outlook on the stock, with price targets raised by multiple firms, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $66.21.

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 52,851 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,304,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5,224.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,336,709 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $189,081,000 after buying an additional 4,255,262 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 694.3% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 29,976 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 26,202 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 15.0% in the first quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 30,961 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.7% in the first quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,790 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 6,283 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 17,550 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,003,684.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 191,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,948,567.98. The trade was a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,973 shares of company stock worth $7,511,746 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.0%

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.06. 2,385,193 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,078,688. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $69.98. The company has a market capitalization of $35.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.98, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.49. 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 simple moving average is $50.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.20.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion for 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%. The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 target price on Delta Air Lines and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. HSBC upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.21.

About Delta Air Lines

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.