Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Sees Large Volume Increase on Earnings Beat

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 7,974,359 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 10,280,324 shares.The stock last traded at $48.34 and had previously closed at $47.32.

The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 46.35% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,329 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 325.5% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,647 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 59,398 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 4,434,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $178,400,000 after purchasing an additional 773,636 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 625,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,145,000 after purchasing an additional 26,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 17.1% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,091,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $188,514,000 after purchasing an additional 743,882 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.29.

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.