Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 4,369 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 69.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,651 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 4,369 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 563.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,002,000 after buying an additional 129,901 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $242,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $275,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 172.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 29,268 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 18,520 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SKYW shares. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

SkyWest Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of SKYW stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.92. 162,895 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 396,351. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.61 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average price is $91.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.88.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $946.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.