Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

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

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:DAL opened at $46.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.35. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $49.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.43.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,234,306 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,700,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,578 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,652,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $756,110,000 after acquiring an additional 579,727 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,168,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $459,144,000 after buying an additional 351,286 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,995,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $160,726,000 after buying an additional 19,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,396,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $129,679,000 after buying an additional 1,504,544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

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.