Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.30-0.50 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.9-13.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.52 billion. Delta Air Lines also updated its Q1 2025 guidance to 0.300-0.500 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $50.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.95. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $69.98.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total value of $6,405,943.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This trade represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Delta Air Lines stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 69.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.