American Century Companies Inc. Has $131.57 Million Position in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 8.3%, holding approximately 1.5 million shares valued at about $131.6 million.
• SkyWest's CEO and another insider sold a combined total of 43,000 shares recently, indicating a 6% and 14% decrease in their ownership, respectively.
• The company reported a 19.4% increase in revenue year-over-year with earnings per share of $2.91, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a strong financial performance.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,505,919 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,619 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.72% of SkyWest worth $131,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 1,075.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 60,181 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 55,062 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,322 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,007,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In related news, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total value of $816,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,577,992.70. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total transaction of $1,160,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,217,666.53. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 136,186 shares of company stock valued at $15,201,258. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $114.47. The company had a trading volume of 282,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.98. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.70 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $108.69 and its 200-day moving average is $100.11.

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

SkyWest declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SKYW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial increased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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 target price of $126.75.

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.