Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $70.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.70% from the stock’s previous close.

DAL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.69.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $57.05 on Wednesday. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $34.74 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.18 and a 200-day moving average of $51.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $37.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.50.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%.The business had revenue of $15.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 45,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.56, for a total value of $2,523,701.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,318,974.36. This represents a 25.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $1,007,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,473 shares of company stock valued at $7,663,496 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.1% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 26.9% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, one8zero8 LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 21,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.