Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,690,000 shares, an increase of 9.9% from the March 15th total of 16,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DAL opened at $46.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.52. The firm has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 5.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at about $502,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 495.7% during the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 396.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.