Citigroup Inc. Increases Stake in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 37.4% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 23,719 shares to own a total of 87,183 shares valued at approximately $7.6 million.
• Insider selling was observed with Wade J. Steel selling 17,000 shares and director James L. Welch selling 10,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions in the company.
• SkyWest's latest earnings report showed a significant increase in revenue, reporting $1.04 billion and $2.91 EPS, surpassing analyst estimates of $979.95 million in revenue and $2.34 EPS.

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 37.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,183 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.22% of SkyWest worth $7,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in SkyWest by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,023 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in SkyWest by 83.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,274 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $114.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 282,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,812. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.98. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $109.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.08.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SKYW. Evercore ISI raised their price target on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total transaction of $3,017,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,990,720.98. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 138,186 shares of company stock valued at $15,434,918. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.