Legal & General Group Plc Buys New Position in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 74,892 SkyWest shares worth approximately $7.44 million, representing a 0.19% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 81.30% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $121.00, although ratings were mixed: TD Cowen raised its target to $123, while Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral.
• SkyWest reported quarterly earnings of $2.54 per share, below the $2.70 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year to $1.10 billion. The company also authorized a $250 million share-buyback program, covering up to 6.6% of outstanding shares.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 74,892 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $7,439,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.19% of SkyWest as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SKYW. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in SkyWest by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 273.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 118.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SKYW shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.00.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $94.96 on Thursday. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.89 and a 12-month high of $123.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.32.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 9.78%.The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to buy up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In other news, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total transaction of $1,924,157.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 53,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,788,211.65. This trade represents a 24.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 25,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.49, for a total value of $2,762,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,375,231.98. This represents a 21.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 115,226 shares of company stock valued at $12,855,192 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc NASDAQ: SKYW is a regional airline holding company that provides air transportation services through its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines. The company operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with major carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. By specializing in regional connectivity, SkyWest links smaller communities to larger hubs using a fleet of regional jets and turboprop aircraft.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest oversees all aspects of its airline operations, including flight scheduling, crew training and aircraft maintenance.

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