Zacks Research Lifts Earnings Estimates for Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Delta Air Lines in a report issued on Wednesday, July 30th. Zacks Research analyst M. Basu now forecasts that the transportation company will earn $2.52 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.51. The consensus estimate for Delta Air Lines’ current full-year earnings is $7.63 per share.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $69.20 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.21.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 3.9%

NYSE DAL opened at $51.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.56. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $69.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The transportation company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15,507,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.16 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 7.24%. Delta Air Lines’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 EPS.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.28, for a total value of $1,969,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,615,278.44. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $1,007,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,505 shares in the company, valued at $5,456,379.80. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,973 shares of company stock valued at $7,511,746. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Delta Air Lines by 3.5% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 88,217 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,339,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.3% during the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,651 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at about $291,000. Rossby Financial LCC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,458.1% during the second quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 5,360 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 5,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the second quarter valued at about $247,000. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.