Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.60-1.85 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.74. The company issued revenue guidance of +2-4% yr/yr to ~$13.9-14.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $14.11 billion.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $64.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $41.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on DAL shares. BNP Paribas raised Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William C. Carroll sold 21,530 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,197,608.72. The trade was a 52.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.