Pzena Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,536,640 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,206,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.86% of Delta Air Lines at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.22.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $1,305,148.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,197,608.72. This trade represents a 52.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL stock traded down $2.18 on Wednesday, reaching $62.57. 3,416,507 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,361,867. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.46 and a 12 month high of $66.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $53.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.96%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

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.