Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $56.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines traded as low as $36.86 and last traded at $36.86, with a volume of 348667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.71.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on DAL. Raymond James lowered their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays cut 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 research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This represents a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Boston Partners bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,398,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $152,342,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 405.3% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,054,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $184,784,000 after buying an additional 2,449,874 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $602,327,000 after buying an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 1,922,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.06.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued 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 1.62%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio 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.