11,342 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 11,342 SkyWest shares worth approximately $1.13 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 81.3% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $121 target price, although ratings are mixed; SkyWest recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.54, below the $2.70 estimate.
• SkyWest authorized a $250 million share-repurchase program covering up to 6.6% of outstanding shares, while insiders sold 115,226 shares worth about $12.9 million in the latest quarter.

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,342 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,127,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 480.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 273.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SkyWest by 118.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SkyWest from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.00.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $99.06 on Friday. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.89 and a 1 year high of $122.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $102.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.29.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. SkyWest's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other news, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total value of $1,924,157.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 53,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,788,211.65. This represents a 24.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 22,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $2,451,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,178,010.72. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 115,226 shares of company stock worth $12,855,192 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Profile

SkyWest, Inc NASDAQ: SKYW is a regional airline holding company that provides air transportation services through its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines. The company operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with major carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. By specializing in regional connectivity, SkyWest links smaller communities to larger hubs using a fleet of regional jets and turboprop aircraft.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest oversees all aspects of its airline operations, including flight scheduling, crew training and aircraft maintenance.

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