Ellis Investment Partners LLC Buys 1,566 Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,378 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 220.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,600,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $346,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,914,301 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $842,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,053 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter valued at $65,056,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,467,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $260,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 96.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,487,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $119,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

NYSE:DAL opened at $42.03 on Friday. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a PE ratio of 6.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.04.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The transportation company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by ($0.01). Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 36.02%. The business had revenue of $15.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Delta Air Lines’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Willie Cw Chiang acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $43.90 per share, for a total transaction of $439,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.80 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

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.