Federated Hermes Inc. Has $15.73 Million Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has sold 4.7% of its shares in SkyWest, Inc., reducing its investment to approximately 179,991 shares valued at $15.7 million.
• SkyWest recently announced a $250 million stock buyback program, indicating that the board believes the company’s shares are undervalued.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.91, surpassing estimates, and revenue growth of 19.4% year-over-year.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,991 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 8,854 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.44% of SkyWest worth $15,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter worth about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter worth about $32,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.75.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW traded down $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $109.46. 93,656 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 410,292. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.32 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.97.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding 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 often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $2,018,667.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total value of $816,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,577,992.70. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,186 shares of company stock worth $11,022,798. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

About SkyWest

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.