Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

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

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock 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 firm has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.29. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DAL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 133,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,356,000 after buying an additional 19,798 shares during the period. O Dell Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 289,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after buying an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.