Legato Capital Management LLC Has $976,000 Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Legato Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,166 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 3,510 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 1,075.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 60,181 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,302,000 after buying an additional 55,062 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 5.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,322 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in SkyWest by 11.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SKYW. Wall Street Zen upgraded SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded SkyWest from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, SkyWest presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $124.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $1,515,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,063,404.32. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total value of $1,715,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 449,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,000 shares of company stock worth $4,994,520. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW stock traded up $1.13 on Friday, reaching $112.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 993,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,550. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $103.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 17.01% and a net margin of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.