Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $49.94 and last traded at $49.79, with a volume of 9848728 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 5.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $32.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.07. 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 (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were 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 owns 428,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,913 shares of company stock valued at $8,897,335 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $346,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,914,301 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $842,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,053 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $65,056,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $105,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $260,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,221 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.