Bank of America Corp DE Purchases Shares of 244,181 SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• Bank of America purchased 244,181 SkyWest shares worth approximately $24.3 million in the second quarter, giving it a 0.63% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 81.3% of the company.
• SkyWest insiders sold 115,226 shares worth about $12.9 million over the past three months, including significant sales by the CFO and another insider.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $121 target price, while SkyWest reported quarterly revenue growth of 6.5% but missed EPS estimates. The company also authorized a $250 million share repurchase program.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 244,181 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $24,254,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.63% of SkyWest at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,492,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in SkyWest during the second quarter valued at approximately $524,000. J. Goldman & Co LP purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the second quarter worth approximately $12,992,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,252,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,093,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert Simmons sold 25,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.49, for a total value of $2,762,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 93,902 shares in the company, valued at $10,375,231.98. The trade was a 21.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $2,451,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 55,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,178,010.72. This trade represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,226 shares of company stock worth $12,855,192. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

SkyWest Stock Performance

SkyWest stock opened at $99.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.42. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.89 and a 1-year high of $117.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.06 and a 200-day moving average of $94.66.

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

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

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc is a regional airline holding company headquartered in St. George, Utah. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides scheduled passenger air service for major U.S. airline partners, connecting smaller communities with larger hub airports.

SkyWest Airlines operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Its fleet primarily consists of regional aircraft, including Embraer E175 and Bombardier CRJ models, and serves destinations throughout the United States as well as selected locations in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

SkyWest also operates SkyWest Charter, which provides public charter air transportation.

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