Man Group plc Raises Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Man Group plc increased its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,939 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 19,620 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.28% of SkyWest worth $11,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 563.8% during 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 during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 193.5% during 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 during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $275,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in SkyWest by 172.3% during 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 during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of SkyWest stock traded down $0.73 on Friday, hitting $97.92. The company had a trading volume of 162,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,351. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.20 and a 200-day moving average of $100.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.