SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Shares Sold by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. by 39.4%, selling 97,063 shares and owning a total of 149,214 shares after the sale.
• SkyWest recently reported earnings of $2.91 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 19.4% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company has announced a $250 million stock repurchase plan, indicating management's confidence in the stock's value, allowing it to buy back up to 6.4% of its shares.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 39.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,214 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 97,063 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.37% of SkyWest worth $13,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 83.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,274 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 11.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SKYW shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.83, for a total value of $233,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,796,883.71. The trade was a 2.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 102,416 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,186 shares of company stock worth $10,440,398. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SkyWest Price Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.22. 333,537 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 304,326. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average is $114.08 and its 200-day moving average is $100.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.92. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.70 and a twelve month high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.