Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target Raised to $76.00

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $63.62 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.47. The firm has a market cap of $41.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $35.46 and a 12-month high of $66.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Senator Investment Group LP increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,534,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 43,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.