Brokerages Set Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Price Target at $76.29

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.29.

A number of research firms have commented on DAL. UBS Group reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $46.89 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $37.29 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.80 and a 200-day moving average of $58.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $30.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.26%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Boston Partners bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $328,398,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $189,296,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $152,342,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $184,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $602,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254,560 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by 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.