SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stake Lifted by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 1,999.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 150,711 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.39% of SkyWest worth $15,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SKYW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 357,510 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,396,000 after buying an additional 11,169 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in SkyWest by 563.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,002,000 after acquiring an additional 129,901 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest during the third quarter worth $648,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ SKYW traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $99.54. 262,858 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,702. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 175,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SKYW has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James dropped their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest's airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.