TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) Stock Price

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had its target price dropped by research analysts at TD Cowen from $82.00 to $71.00 in a report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. TD Cowen’s price target points to a potential upside of 27.67% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on DAL. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.93.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL traded down $3.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $55.61. The stock had a trading volume of 4,405,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,023,554. The firm has a market cap of $36.32 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.34. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $76.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.16.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 13th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 20.96%. The firm had revenue of $14.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Delta Air Lines has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.500-7.500 EPS. Analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rahul D. Samant sold 62,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.18, for a total value of $4,388,215.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,469,499.02. This trade represents a 74.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 35,212 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $2,647,942.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,176 shares in the company, valued at $10,390,835.20. This represents a 20.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 620,550 shares of company stock worth $44,127,667. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 7.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 358,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,366,000 after acquiring an additional 25,507 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after purchasing an additional 8,309 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 53,601 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,661 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,201,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,407,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $118,409,000 after purchasing an additional 685,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines is a major U.S.-based global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo air transportation, aircraft maintenance and repair services, and related travel products. Its operations include mainline domestic and international passenger services, a branded regional network operating under the Delta Connection name, dedicated air cargo carriage, and in-house maintenance, repair and overhaul through Delta TechOps. Delta offers a range of cabin products for different customer segments, including premium business-class service on long-haul routes and tiered economy offerings on domestic and international flights, and it markets customer loyalty benefits through the SkyMiles frequent-flyer program.

The carrier operates a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft from multiple U.S.