Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $76.39 and last traded at $71.3830, with a volume of 9525244 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus set a $80.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.47.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.77. The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 13th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.02. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 7.90%.The business had revenue of $14.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Delta Air Lines has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.500-7.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, insider Peter W. Carter sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total value of $2,020,140.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 421,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,554,886.08. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total transaction of $4,388,215.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,939 shares in the company, valued at $1,469,499.02. The trade was a 74.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 520,550 shares of company stock valued at $37,101,667. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 444 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 184.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 572 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,983.3% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2,280.8% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 619 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.