SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Stock Holdings Lowered by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 9.4%, holding 2,719,189 shares valued at approximately $237.6 million after selling 282,514 shares in the first quarter.
• SkyWest reported earnings per share of $2.91 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue increase of 19.4%.
• The company has authorized a stock buyback plan of $250 million, indicating management's belief that its stock is undervalued.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,719,189 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 282,514 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.72% of SkyWest worth $237,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SKYW. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 94.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,023 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW traded up $4.6130 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $119.0830. The stock had a trading volume of 271,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,309. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $109.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.08.

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SkyWest news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total value 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. The trade was a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total value of $3,017,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,990,720.98. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 138,186 shares of company stock worth $15,434,918. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.