Invesco Ltd. Purchases 21,723 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 4.0%, purchasing an additional 21,723 shares, bringing its total ownership to 564,732 shares valued at approximately $49.3 million.
• SkyWest reported strong earnings, with $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 19.4% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Research analysts have largely upgraded SkyWest's stock rating, with major firms increasing their target price; Evercore ISI raised it to $130 and Raymond James to $140.

Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 564,732 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,723 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.40% of SkyWest worth $49,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in SkyWest by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 42,092 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,215,000 after buying an additional 12,223 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in SkyWest by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,863 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in SkyWest by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,675 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth about $2,700,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 404,883 shares in the company, valued at $46,990,720.98. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total transaction of $1,160,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,217,666.53. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 136,186 shares of company stock valued at $15,201,258. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SKYW shares. 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 research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.0250 during trading on Thursday, reaching $114.4650. 127,611 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 398,251. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $108.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.11. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.