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 trimmed its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 71.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,260 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 13,344 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in SkyWest were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in SkyWest by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,023 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in SkyWest by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in SkyWest by 83.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,274 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,111,716.16. The trade was a 14.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 106,186 shares of company stock worth $12,204,148. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SKYW stock traded down $1.10 on Monday, hitting $121.40. 232,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,809. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $112.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.92. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.70 and a twelve month high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The company's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SKYW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.75.

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.