Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 29.93% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 9.1 %

Shares of DAL stock opened at $66.99 on Friday. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $36.34 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the 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 completion of 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 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 136,809 shares of company stock worth $7,871,765. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.06.

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.