SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Acquired by Man Group plc

Man Group plc increased its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,939 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 19,620 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.28% of SkyWest worth $11,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in SkyWest by 157.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 491 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 117.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 832 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW stock traded up $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $98.65. 193,917 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 396,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57. The company's fifty day moving average is $90.77 and its 200 day moving average is $101.09.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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.