GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 150,550 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 9,644.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,111 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 150,550 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.37% of SkyWest worth $13,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SKYW. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $146,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in SkyWest by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,390,300 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $139,211,000 after acquiring an additional 97,108 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in SkyWest by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,355 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $71,028,000 after acquiring an additional 26,561 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in SkyWest by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $54,371,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in SkyWest by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 192,543 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SKYW has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other SkyWest news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.75, for a total value of $1,763,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 131,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,612,311.25. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $1,515,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,063,404.32. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,000 shares of company stock worth $4,994,520 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of SKYW traded up $2.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.26. 185,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,909. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.68. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $135.57. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.36.

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

SkyWest announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.