Bank of America Corp DE Increases Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,487 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 13,077 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.22% of SkyWest worth $9,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in SkyWest by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,786 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SkyWest Price Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW traded up $3.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $101.65. The stock had a trading volume of 346,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,149. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.79. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented 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. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.