Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.1 %

DAL stock traded up $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.41. The company had a trading volume of 6,046,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,730,671. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $64.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.62. The stock has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total value of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.