Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.22.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $68.37 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $69.98. 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 (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,130.14. This represents a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,429 shares of company stock worth $9,339,519 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,414,074,000 after acquiring an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $189,296,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,497,487 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,637,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently 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.