Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Trading Down 4.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) dropped 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $77.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Delta Air Lines traded as low as $45.21 and last traded at $44.50. Approximately 2,206,379 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 8,649,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.68.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DAL. TD Cowen upped their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.60.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,478.21. This represents a 41.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total transaction of $554,568.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. The trade was a 29.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 2,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,555 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 5,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 5.3 %

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 company’s 50 day moving average is $63.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.99. The firm has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its 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 business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is 11.26%.

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.