Mount Lucas Management LP Lowers Stock Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Mount Lucas Management LP lessened its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,580 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 13,054 shares during the period. Delta Air Lines comprises 1.6% of Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $5,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DAL. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,053 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,030,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $719,526,000 after acquiring an additional 49,712 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $346,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,914,301 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,374,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $336,908,000 after acquiring an additional 826,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $260,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.03. 8,498,150 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,510,068. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $53.86. The firm has a market cap of $27.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.05, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.04.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by ($0.01). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. The business had revenue of $15.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on DAL shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.80 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Willie Cw Chiang bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $439,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.