DRW Securities LLC Makes New Investment in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC has acquired a new stake in SkyWest, Inc., purchasing 3,068 shares valued at approximately $268,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors raised their positions in SkyWest, including American Century Companies, which increased their holdings by 8.3%, now owning over 1.5 million shares worth nearly $132 million.
• SkyWest reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91, exceeding estimates, and announced a stock repurchase program authorizing the buyback of $250 million in shares.

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,068 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 243.9% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 176,573 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $15,427,000 after acquiring an additional 125,235 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in SkyWest by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in SkyWest by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 15,163 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 232.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 46,342 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,049,000 after acquiring an additional 32,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bandera Partners LLC grew its holdings in SkyWest by 138.1% in the 1st quarter. Bandera Partners LLC now owns 209,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $18,260,000 after acquiring an additional 121,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $46,990,720.98. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,111,716.16. This trade represents a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,186 shares of company stock worth $10,440,398 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SKYW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $1.28 on Friday, hitting $119.22. The company had a trading volume of 333,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,326. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.70 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.92. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $114.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

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.