Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $80.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 50.69% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $47.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.50 and a 200-day moving average of $58.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued 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. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. The trade was a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,036,000. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 314.0% in the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 27,654 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,501,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,452,000 after buying an additional 416,338 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $189,296,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,693,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.