Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $65.42 on Monday. 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 $62.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.15. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $36.34 and a one year high of $68.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 10,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total transaction of $603,582.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,607,112.48. The trade was a 11.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,775,004.27. The trade was a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 117,319 shares of company stock worth $6,794,748. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Senator Investment Group LP lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 143.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 22.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.