Brokerages Set Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Target Price at $58.29

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.29.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Willie Cw Chiang purchased 10,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $49.50 per share, with a total value of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.50 per share, for a total transaction of $495,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 174,073 shares of company stock valued at $8,581,207 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 54.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,123 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,092,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 206,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,901,000 after buying an additional 6,414 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $51.55 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $45.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.72. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $51.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.38.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

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.