Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.29.

A number of research firms have recently commented on DAL. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

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Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 17,970 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $1,241,367.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,479,212.12. This trade represents a 33.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,410,242 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,380,820,000 after buying an additional 456,465 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,800,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,932 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $968,234,000 after acquiring an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $918,419,000 after purchasing an additional 46,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $670,994,000 after purchasing an additional 92,208 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL traded up $2.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.89. The stock had a trading volume of 9,830,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,799,849. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $37.29 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

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.