Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 97.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,264 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in SkyWest were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in SkyWest by 3.3% in the 4th 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 period. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in SkyWest by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,786 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in SkyWest by 5.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,974 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total transaction of $816,690.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,577,992.70. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,186 shares of company stock worth $11,022,798. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SkyWest Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $110.81. 233,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,244. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $106.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.98. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $71.86 and a one year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.