Delta Air Lines Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 63,584 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average volume of 46,392 call options.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.95. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 1.19%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 742,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,725,000 after buying an additional 19,124 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 9.6% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 92,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after acquiring an additional 8,125 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 68.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.