TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price

Key Points

• TD Cowen lowered Delta Air Lines’ price target to $105 from $112 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying 26.59% upside from the stock’s $82.95 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: 23 analysts rate Delta a Buy and two rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $100.10.
• Delta beat quarterly expectations with adjusted earnings of $1.56 per share and $17.67 billion in revenue, though insiders sold approximately $35.5 million of shares over the past three months.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $112.00 to $105.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the transportation company's stock. TD Cowen's price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.59% from the company's current price.

DAL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Argus set a $105.00 price target on Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $75.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.10.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.7%

DAL stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $82.95. 950,835 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,930,198. The stock has a market cap of $54.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $95.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $87.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, President Peter W. Carter sold 39,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total value of $3,709,902.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 424,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,488,977.92. This trade represents a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 206,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.80, for a total transaction of $19,164,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at $126,527,974.40. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 386,726 shares of company stock valued at $35,512,037 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8,578.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,516,676 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,734,272,000 after acquiring an additional 18,303,318 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth approximately $1,182,646,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 137.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $958,538,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994,004 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth $471,532,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,579.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,673,400 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $185,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,193 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Company 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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