Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.600-1.850 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.720. The company issued revenue guidance of $13.9 billion-$14.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $14.6 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.83.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $63.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.55. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $36.19 and a twelve month high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.