Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.60-1.85 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74. The company issued revenue guidance of +2-4% yr/yr to ~$13.9-14.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $14.11 billion.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 1.7 %

DAL stock opened at $63.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.98. The stock has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Delta Air Lines has a twelve month low of $35.46 and a twelve month high of $66.25.

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

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued 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 0.94%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Delta Air Lines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $72.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 19,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 121,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,564.86. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 68,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $3,830,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 439,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,775,004.27. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,240 shares of company stock valued at $8,044,893 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.