Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,420 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 2,574 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.06% of SkyWest worth $2,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 157.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 491 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 117.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 832 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW stock traded down $2.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.34. 259,755 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 396,495. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $90.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.11. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

SkyWest 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.