SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly reduced its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 71.7%, now holding 5,260 shares valued at approximately $460,000.
• SkyWest reported quarterly earnings of $2.91 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 19.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has initiated a $250 million share repurchase program, suggesting management believes its stock is undervalued.

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 71.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,260 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 13,344 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 25.1% during the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 15,163 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. lifted its stake in SkyWest by 232.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 46,342 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,049,000 after acquiring an additional 32,401 shares in the last quarter. Bandera Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 138.1% during the 1st quarter. Bandera Partners LLC now owns 209,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $18,260,000 after acquiring an additional 121,240 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 501.4% during the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 109,528 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,569,000 after acquiring an additional 91,316 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in SkyWest by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,505,919 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $131,572,000 after acquiring an additional 115,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SKYW shares. Evercore ISI increased 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, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.75.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of SKYW stock traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $121.40. 232,773 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,929. The business's fifty day moving average is $112.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.70 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.98.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total transaction of $3,017,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,990,720.98. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total value of $1,160,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,217,666.53. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,186 shares of company stock valued at $12,204,148 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.