Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09, RTT News reports. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 46.35%. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 0.7 %

Delta Air Lines stock opened at $47.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $30.60 and a 1 year high of $49.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.18.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 available at this link. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at $217,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 7,616 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at $243,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,918 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.