Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.81. 14,629,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,762,764. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $30.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.5% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 54,325 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 44,086 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 24,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.29.

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.