SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC has reduced its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 16.3%, selling 3,222 shares to own a total of 16,548 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million.
• SkyWest reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.34 and achieving year-over-year revenue growth of 19.4%.
• The company's board has approved a stock buyback program of up to $250 million, indicating a belief that the company's shares are undervalued.

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,548 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 3,222 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 8.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,505,919 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $131,572,000 after purchasing an additional 115,619 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 4.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 564,732 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,341,000 after purchasing an additional 21,723 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $47,338,000 after purchasing an additional 51,607 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter worth about $37,474,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $41,584,000 after purchasing an additional 57,547 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW traded down $2.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 191,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,066. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.70 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $112.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.92.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SkyWest news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total value of $3,017,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.83, for a total value of $233,660.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,440,398 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.