Short Interest in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Rises By 15.4%

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,190,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the October 31st total of 30,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on DAL. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BNP Paribas raised Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,688,130.14. This trade represents a 11.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 13.8% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 16.9% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 3.0% in the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.85 on Tuesday, reaching $62.56. The company had a trading volume of 5,335,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,288,335. 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 firm has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.64. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $36.34 and a 52-week high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released 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 firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 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 Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.33%.

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.