Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,500,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the October 15th total of 28,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.22.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 10,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $603,582.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,607,112.48. This represents a 11.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 4.9% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,781 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 81.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 59,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after buying an additional 26,788 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the first quarter valued at about $1,183,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 743.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 20,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAL traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $64.40. 5,359,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,368,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.78. Delta Air Lines has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $66.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 10th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.65 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.71% and a return on equity of 29.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 8.33%.

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.