Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $63.56 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.30. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $33.69 and a 1 year high of $63.83.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,710 shares of company stock worth $6,739,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at about $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 419.5% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,551,000 after buying an additional 453,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 159.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 588,436 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,915,000 after acquiring an additional 361,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.