Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $47.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.29. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.12, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 5.14%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 133,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,356,000 after purchasing an additional 19,798 shares in the last quarter. O Dell Group LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 289,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at about $249,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. UBS Group started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.29.

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.