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

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Monday morning. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL traded down $3.00 during trading on Monday, hitting $50.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,354,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,575,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $63.68 and a 200-day moving average of $57.88. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,455.04. The trade was a 40.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Delta Air Lines stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by 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.