Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 29,117 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 59.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,756 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 29,117 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $4,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 321,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,777,000 after acquiring an additional 8,016 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,955,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $602,327,000 after buying an additional 2,254,560 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 3,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $40.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. 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 $52.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.69. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $12.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAL. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.06.

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.