Analysts Set Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Target Price at $61.37

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.42.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $62.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE:DAL opened at $50.66 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 10.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,924,506 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,179,508,000 after acquiring an additional 514,264 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 29,764,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,800,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,932 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $968,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,648 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,180,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $918,419,000 after buying an additional 46,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,090,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $670,994,000 after buying an additional 92,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% 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.