Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,690,000 shares, an increase of 9.9% from the March 15th total of 16,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.2 %

DAL stock opened at $46.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.98, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $30.60 and a twelve month high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 41.89%. The company had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.52 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 Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,640,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,936,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,283,000 after buying an additional 1,689,053 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,618,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $105,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,396,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $129,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DAL. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

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.