Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

DAL has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. HSBC decreased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $80.20 to $79.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.26.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $69.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.16. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $38.80 and a 52 week high of $76.39. The company has a market capitalization of $45.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.26, for a total transaction of $7,026,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,363,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,795,856.48. This represents a 6.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $1,074,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 54,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 353,611 shares of company stock valued at $25,182,798. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 7.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 358,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,366,000 after purchasing an additional 25,507 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,957,000 after purchasing an additional 8,309 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 41.3% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 53,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,661 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 14.0% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 457,796 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,980,000 after purchasing an additional 56,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter worth approximately $1,041,000. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.