Sterne Agee Reiterates Buy, $18 PT on Delta

Sterne Agee maintains its Buy rating and $18 price target on Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and raises estimates following bullish outlook at the company's analyst day.

Sterne Agee comments, “DAL is gaining corporate travel market share, resulting in a relative gain in premium revenue per seat, and should continue to do so, with the continued downsizing at AMR ($0.69, Neutral), a new market foothold in the New York Metropolitan market via its slot swap, and an investment in systems and facilities in international markets in Europe and Brazil. This will show up as better-than-market yield improvement. … Our 2011 4Q EPS estimate rises $0.14 from $0.24 to $0.38.”

DAL closed at $8.15 per share on Wednesday.