United Community Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

United Community Bank grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,311 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 7.2% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.8% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 14,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 8,146 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.30.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total value of $1,176,206.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,911,295.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Delta Air Lines news, President Glen W. Hauenstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total value of $4,905,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 217,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,672,495.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 24,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.86, for a total transaction of $1,176,206.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,451 shares in the company, valued at $6,911,295.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 178,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,834,653. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

DAL traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.79. 2,138,676 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,398,169. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $53.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.25 and a 200 day moving average of $45.47. The stock has a market cap of $30.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.03, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.35.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.09. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 41.89% and a net margin of 8.48%. The business had revenue of $13.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Delta Air Lines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.14%.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

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.