Willie Chaing, a director at Delta Air Lines (DAL), recently bought 10,000 shares. The buy is a new stake for the director, and came to a total cost of $494,955.
This is the first insider buy since last October, when a director bought 20,000 shares across two transactions for just under $638,000. Otherwise, there have been some moderate sales by company insiders in the prior few months.
Overall, Delta Air Lines insiders own 0.3% of shares.
The airliner is up 49% over the past year, as moderate energy prices and continued strong demand have boosted demand.
Revenues rose nearly 8% in the last year, and shares are valued just under 8 times forward earnings.
That’s allowed shares to soar to new 52-week highs, even with some high-profile safety issues impacting airlines recently.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here as a momentum trade higher. Delta Airlines is still inexpensive, and has a number of positive factors that can keep its performance strong in the months ahead.
At current prices, Delta also pays investors a 0.8% dividend.
For traders, with shares breaking to new highs, a continuation to the upside looks likely. The September $55 calls, last trading for about $3.30, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns from a further rally in Delta shares.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.