Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Earns Buy Rating from UBS Group

UBS Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $88.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on DAL. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $63.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.55. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $36.19 and a one year high of $66.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 13.78 % 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. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction 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 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 over the last ninety 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 the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 82,635 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,197,000 after buying an additional 19,815 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth approximately $301,000. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Delta Air Lines by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. 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.