Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 908.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 90,970 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Senator Investment Group LP boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 143.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 56,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 33,378 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 43,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 7,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.62, for a total value of $470,276.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,688,130.14. This represents a 11.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,775,004.27. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.75.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $63.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.46 and a 1-year high of $66.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.01 and a 200-day moving average of $49.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 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.