Ethic Inc. Purchases New Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,828 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at $2,036,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $3,593,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 81,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 33,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $50.29 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.74 and a twelve month high of $69.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.28.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $12.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 10.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.42.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.