Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.30-0.50 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.9-13.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.52 billion.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of DAL traded down $3.00 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.28. 19,354,468 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,575,768. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.88. The company has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a PEG 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.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The transportation company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.20 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DAL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 38,023 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.89, for a total transaction of $2,467,312.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,478.21. This trade represents a 41.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 6,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total value of $447,271.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,455.04. This trade represents a 40.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,886 shares of company stock valued at $11,116,463 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Delta Air Lines stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.