Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,690,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the March 15th total of 16,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 495.7% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $46.55 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $49.81. The stock has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The firm had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.52 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 Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DAL shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.