Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on DAL. Barclays upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $63.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.29 and a 200-day moving average of $48.30. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $33.69 and a 52 week high of $63.83. The company has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The business had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total transaction of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,710 shares of company stock valued at $6,739,745. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the third quarter worth $281,206,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $471,330,000 after buying an additional 1,105,674 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 419.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 562,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,551,000 after acquiring an additional 453,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 159.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 588,436 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,915,000 after acquiring an additional 361,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.