StockNews.com Downgrades Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $69.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.37. Delta Air Lines has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $69.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.41. The firm has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. 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 30.43% and a net margin of 5.61%. Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $447,271.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,423 shares of company stock worth $8,712,931. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DAL. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.