SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Acquired by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. by 57.6%, owning 29,680 shares worth approximately $2.6 million at the end of the first quarter.
• A total of 81.30% of SkyWest's stock is currently held by institutional investors, indicating significant confidence in the company.
• SkyWest reported strong financial results, with $2.91 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and the company authorized a $250 million stock buyback program.

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 57.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,680 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 10,849 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.07% of SkyWest worth $2,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $54,371,000 after purchasing an additional 21,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $47,338,000 after purchasing an additional 51,607 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $41,584,000 after purchasing an additional 57,547 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,324 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,984,000 after purchasing an additional 128,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in SkyWest by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 379,563 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $38,006,000 after acquiring an additional 22,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total value of $816,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,810 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total value of $1,715,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 449,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,186 shares of company stock valued at $11,022,798. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW traded up $2.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $111.88. 86,306 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 409,549. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $105.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.32 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication 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.