SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 25.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,692 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 5,269 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.06% of SkyWest worth $2,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SKYW shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Trading Down 5.1%

SKYW traded down $5.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.06. 176,191 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,521. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. 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 price of $105.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.88.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. SkyWest's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.75, for a total value of $1,763,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,612,311.25. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 102,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,111,716.16. This trade represents a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,004,130. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Company 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.