ProShare Advisors LLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 44.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,954 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,679 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SKYW. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $146,935,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $23,851,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in SkyWest by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $52,641,000 after buying an additional 192,543 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 1,999.6% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $15,845,000 after buying an additional 150,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 563.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW traded up $3.62 on Tuesday, hitting $101.54. The stock had a trading volume of 169,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,469. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $91.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.88.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS 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 company had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. 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 year.

SkyWest declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in 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 generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are 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.