Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,080,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the February 28th total of 26,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.1 %

DAL stock opened at $43.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $69.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on DAL. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Delta Air Lines from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 8,400 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.02, for a total value of $554,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,304,291.12. This trade represents a 29.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 91,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.85, for a total transaction of $6,405,943.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,721,357.15. This represents a 17.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 162,886 shares of company stock worth $11,116,463 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 404,638 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,450 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.6% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 44,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 5,046 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 90,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,329,941 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,548,000 after purchasing an additional 147,438 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.