Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.6 %

DAL stock opened at $61.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.73. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $36.34 and a 12 month high of $67.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DAL. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $77.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,809 shares of company stock worth $7,871,765 in the last ninety days. 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.