River Road Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. $DAL

River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 339.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,288,956 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 995,685 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $89,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $555,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 102.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 357,825 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 10.6% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.93% of the company’s stock.

More Delta Air Lines News

Here are the key news stories impacting Delta Air Lines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Delta’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2150 per share, about 15% above prior levels, signaling confidence in cash flow and rewarding investors. Delta Air Lines Declares Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Lower crude prices are helping airline stocks, including Delta, by easing fuel-cost pressure and improving near-term margins. Popular Airline Stock Continues Higher on Lower Crude Costs
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. government closed its investigation into Delta’s handling of the CrowdStrike outage, removing a legal and reputational overhang that had affected investor sentiment. Trump Administration Clears Delta in CrowdStrike Outage Probe, Ends Investigation Into Travel Meltdown That Impacted 1.3 Million Passengers
• Positive Sentiment: Delta also announced a fleet-efficiency upgrade, planning to install VCT finlets across 240 Boeing 737NG aircraft, which could help reduce fuel burn and operating costs over time. Delta Advances Fleet Efficiency with VCT Finlets Across 737NG Fleet

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Allison C. Ausband sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 133,854 shares in the company, valued at $10,574,466. The trade was a 3.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John E. Laughter sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $1,074,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,364.09. The trade was a 21.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,635 shares of company stock worth $10,833,855. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus increased their price target on Delta Air Lines from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised their price target on Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.05.

Delta Air Lines Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of DAL opened at $84.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.28 and a 1 year high of $87.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.15. The firm has a market cap of $55.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.30.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The transportation company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.03. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is presently 10.93%.

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.