46,700 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Bought by Apis Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Apis Capital Advisors LLC has acquired 46,700 shares of SkyWest, Inc., valued at approximately $4.08 million, making it 18th largest holding in their portfolio.
• SkyWest reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $1.04 billion, showing a 19.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company has authorized a $250 million stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that shares are undervalued.

Apis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 46,700 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $4,080,000. SkyWest comprises 2.0% of Apis Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Apis Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of SkyWest as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 71.0% in the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 62,955 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,500,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the first quarter valued at $268,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 243.9% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 176,573 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,427,000 after purchasing an additional 125,235 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 15,163 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SKYW. Wall Street Zen upgraded SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ SKYW traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $120.50. 330,524 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 399,161. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.70 and a 1-year high of $135.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.92.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. SkyWest's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,111,716.16. This represents a 14.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total value of $816,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,577,992.70. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,186 shares of company stock worth $10,440,398 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About SkyWest

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.