Stevens Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 94.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,001 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 20,850 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 875,977 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,495,000 after buying an additional 21,887 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in Delta Air Lines by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,247,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 137,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,577,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DAL shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.10.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $2,647,942.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 138,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,390,835.20. This trade represents a 20.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $4,388,215.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,469,499.02. This represents a 74.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 347,644 shares of company stock valued at $24,776,445. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Delta Air Lines

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delta is eliminating complimentary snack and drink service on many flights under 350 miles, a direct cost-cutting move that should modestly improve unit costs and margins if customer fallout is limited. Delta Air Lines Will Stop Serving Snacks and Drinks on Short Flights
• Positive Sentiment: The collapse of Spirit Airlines removes a low-cost competitor from many markets, opening room for capacity redeployment and potential fare improvements on domestic routes that could benefit Delta’s revenue mix. Spirit Airlines is no more … and now the blame game begins
• Neutral Sentiment: Expeditors (EXPD) reported better-than-expected Q1 results driven by airfreight — a sign that cargo demand remains resilient. Strong airfreight can help airline cargo revenues, but this is an indirect positive for passenger carriers like Delta. EXPD Q1 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates on Airfreight Strength
• Negative Sentiment: Delta canceled hundreds of flights amid crew-scheduling issues, which can hurt near-term revenue, raise operational costs (reaccommodation, compensation) and damage customer perception — a clear execution risk investors will watch. Delta is canceling hundreds of flights due to crew and scheduling challenges
• Negative Sentiment: Jet fuel prices have surged amid geopolitical tensions (Iran/Strait of Hormuz), increasing operating cost pressure and prompting industry capacity cuts — a material headwind for Delta unless fuel hedges or fare mix mitigate the shock. Jet Fuel Prices Are Soaring. Airlines and Travelers Will Feel It.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $70.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a one year low of $44.10 and a one year high of $76.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.93%.

About Delta Air Lines

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.