Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Short Interest Up 6.3% in October

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,500,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the October 15th total of 28,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 121,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,564.86. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 3,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $173,128.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 108,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,499,635.40. The trade was a 3.05 % 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. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.40. 5,359,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,368,586. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.78. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. 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 has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 8.33%.

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.