JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Price Target to $80.00

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on DAL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $65.40.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL opened at $53.20 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $30.60 and a one year high of $53.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.93. The stock has a market cap of $34.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 36.02% and a net margin of 7.46%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.63%.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Senator Investment Group LP lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $749,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 50,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 714.1% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 112,048 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,364,000 after purchasing an additional 98,285 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.