Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,190,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the October 31st total of 30,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.83.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,130.14. The trade was a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE DAL traded down $0.85 on Tuesday, hitting $62.56. 5,335,317 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,288,335. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $36.34 and a 52-week high of $66.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.64.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.96%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

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.