Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Receives Buy Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $83.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

NYSE DAL opened at $63.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.45 and a 200-day moving average of $48.78. The stock has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.33%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 4.0% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.