Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Update

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,190,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the October 31st total of 30,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,111,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,745,969. The stock has a market cap of $41.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.50. Delta Air Lines has a 52-week low of $36.19 and a 52-week high of $66.25.

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

Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.33%.

Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $1,077,017.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,646,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,152,000. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 159.3% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 14,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 9,183 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 354.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 218,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,463,000 after purchasing an additional 170,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 137.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 111,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 64,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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 upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.83.

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.