Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

DAL has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.07. The stock had a trading volume of 12,368,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,176,481. The firm has a market cap of $41.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.01. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $36.34 and a 1 year high of $68.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,809 shares of company stock valued at $7,871,765 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $281,206,000. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 3rd quarter valued at $189,296,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,933,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $471,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,674 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,841,592 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 749,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 419.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,551,000 after purchasing an additional 453,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

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.