Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at The Goldman Sachs Group

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $83.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 28.01% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.22.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $64.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.17 and its 200-day moving average is $48.51. Delta Air Lines has a 1 year low of $35.28 and a 1 year high of $66.25.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock worth $8,044,893. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DAL. Senator Investment Group LP raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 90.0% in the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 475,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,534,000 after buying an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 268,636 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,802 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Delta Air Lines by 32.6% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 175,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 43,000 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 22.8% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 130,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 24,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 36.0% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 135,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,859,000 after purchasing an additional 35,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

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.