Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DAL. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $66.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $36.34 and a one year high of $68.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.59 and its 200 day moving average is $52.15.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,809 shares of company stock valued at $7,871,765. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 829.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 604 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.