Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.3833.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Delta Air Lines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Erik Storey Snell sold 39,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.02, for a total value of $2,799,608.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,530,087.50. The trade was a 52.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alain Bellemare sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $2,491,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 95,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,542.51. This trade represents a 27.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 620,550 shares of company stock valued at $44,127,667 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 137.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,811,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $958,538,000 after acquiring an additional 7,994,004 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,532,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1,579.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,673,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $185,534,000 after buying an additional 2,514,193 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Delta Air Lines by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,155,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,496,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $659,043,000 after buying an additional 1,834,385 shares during the period. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Delta Air Lines News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and value narrative — multiple brokers still rate DAL a buy and value-minded commentators point to a low P/E and attractive upside relative to historical targets, which can limit downside and support longer-term buyers. Zacks: Strong Value Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings date — Delta reports results on April 8; that scheduled report gives investors a formal update on margins and guidance, which could re-price the stock but is not an immediate surprise. Benzinga: Earnings note
• Neutral Sentiment: Small analyst target tweak — Rothschild trimmed its price target from $72 to $70 but kept a buy rating; a modest revision rather than a broad downgrade. Benzinga: PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical disruption and suspended Tel Aviv service — Delta suspended New York–Tel Aviv flights and faces regional airspace disruptions that reduce revenue on exposed routes and complicate operations. Yahoo: Suspension of Tel Aviv flights
• Negative Sentiment: Rising oil and jet-fuel risk — crude prices have climbed amid the Middle East conflict, pressuring jet-fuel costs and compressing near-term airline margins; the sector-wide move lower reflects those input-cost concerns. QuiverQuant: Oil-driven sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Wider airline disruption — tens of thousands of canceled flights and ongoing hub shutdowns (Cirium/Tourism Economics coverage) increase revenue and cargo risk across carriers. Yahoo: Flight cancellations
• Negative Sentiment: Major executive reshuffle — Delta announced a sweeping leadership change (CFO Dan Janki to COO/overseeing customer care; Erik Snell to CFO; Peter Carter to president). Markets often punish executive turnover because it raises short-term execution risk and creates uncertainty about strategy continuity. MSN: Executive reshuffle

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

DAL opened at $61.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.22 and a 200-day moving average of $64.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 0.62 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 quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 13th. The transportation company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.80 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 20.96% and a net margin of 7.90%.Delta Air Lines’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. 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. Equities analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is currently 9.78%.

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.