Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus restated their buy rating on shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a $80.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $75.00.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on DAL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an outperform rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Cowen and Company upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. ValuEngine downgraded Delta Air Lines from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Imperial Capital upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (down from $63.00) on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $59.41.

Shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) traded down 1.24% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,420,154 shares. Delta Air Lines has a 12-month low of $35.84 and a 12-month high of $55.75. The company has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.96 and a 200-day moving average of $48.99.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 13th. The transportation company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The company had revenue of $10.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post $5.12 EPS for the current year.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: This report was posted by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this report on another domain, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of United States and international copyright & trademark law. The legal version of this report can be viewed at [[permalink]].

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.55, for a total transaction of $1,213,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,508 shares in the company, valued at $13,861,413.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig M. Meynard sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $276,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $410,968.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 448,000 shares of company stock valued at $35,840 and have sold 127,606 shares valued at $6,724,639. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patten Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% in the first quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 9,307 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.8% in the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Banced Corp raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the second quarter. Banced Corp now owns 7,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 7,718 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.15% of the company’s stock.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo throughout the United States and across the world. The Company’s segments include Airline and Refinery. The Company’s route network is centered around a system of hub, international gateway and airports that the Company operates in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.