SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Bought by LSV Asset Management

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management increased its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 5.7%, holding approximately $13.60 million worth of shares at the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Invesco and Northern Trust, also raised their positions in SkyWest, contributing to institutional ownership of 81.30% of the company's stock.
• SkyWest recently announced a stock repurchase plan allowing the company to buy back $250 million in shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

LSV Asset Management boosted its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,614 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,408 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned 0.38% of SkyWest worth $13,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $190,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,640 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,669,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 379,563 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $38,006,000 after buying an additional 22,053 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $23,851,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SKYW. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,017 shares in the company, valued at $13,392,436.82. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.25, for a total value of $1,182,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 37,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,035.25. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,186 shares of company stock valued at $11,022,798. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Price Performance

SkyWest stock traded up $3.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.34. The company had a trading volume of 274,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,861. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $105.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.04. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.32 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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

About SkyWest

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.