Stevens Capital Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 94.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,001 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,661,911 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $434,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,058 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 54.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,817,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $330,159,000 after buying an additional 2,058,744 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,447,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,669,000 after buying an additional 42,878 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 24.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,791,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $158,422,000 after buying an additional 550,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,655,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $150,735,000 after buying an additional 47,631 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.10.

Delta Air Lines News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delta is eliminating complimentary snack and drink service on many flights under 350 miles, a direct cost-cutting move that should modestly improve unit costs and margins if customer fallout is limited. Delta Air Lines Will Stop Serving Snacks and Drinks on Short Flights
• Positive Sentiment: The collapse of Spirit Airlines removes a low-cost competitor from many markets, opening room for capacity redeployment and potential fare improvements on domestic routes that could benefit Delta’s revenue mix. Spirit Airlines is no more … and now the blame game begins
• Neutral Sentiment: Expeditors (EXPD) reported better-than-expected Q1 results driven by airfreight — a sign that cargo demand remains resilient. Strong airfreight can help airline cargo revenues, but this is an indirect positive for passenger carriers like Delta. EXPD Q1 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates on Airfreight Strength
• Negative Sentiment: Delta canceled hundreds of flights amid crew-scheduling issues, which can hurt near-term revenue, raise operational costs (reaccommodation, compensation) and damage customer perception — a clear execution risk investors will watch. Delta is canceling hundreds of flights due to crew and scheduling challenges
• Negative Sentiment: Jet fuel prices have surged amid geopolitical tensions (Iran/Strait of Hormuz), increasing operating cost pressure and prompting industry capacity cuts — a material headwind for Delta unless fuel hedges or fare mix mitigate the shock. Jet Fuel Prices Are Soaring. Airlines and Travelers Will Feel It.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $70.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $44.10 and a one year high of $76.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.14 and a 200 day moving average of $66.10.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,363,448 shares in the company, valued at $95,795,856.48. This trade represents a 6.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 38,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.05, for a total value of $2,896,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 104,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,835,520.20. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 347,644 shares of company stock worth $24,776,445 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.