SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Shares Sold by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. reduced its stake in SkyWest, Inc. by 78.4% during the first quarter, now holding only 4,607 shares valued at approximately $403,000.
• CEO Russell A. Childs and Director James L. Welch sold a combined total of 36,000 shares of SkyWest stock, reflecting significant declines in their ownership positions.
• SkyWest's stock has received multiple upgrades from analysts, including a target price increase from $120.00 to $130.00 by Evercore ISI, indicating a positive outlook for the company's performance.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lessened its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 78.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,607 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 16,739 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in SkyWest were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in SkyWest by 4.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 564,732 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $49,341,000 after purchasing an additional 21,723 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in SkyWest by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $47,338,000 after acquiring an additional 51,607 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in SkyWest during the first quarter valued at $37,474,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $41,584,000 after acquiring an additional 57,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. increased its position in SkyWest by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 319,150 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,956,000 after acquiring an additional 41,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.03 on Thursday, reaching $114.47. The stock had a trading volume of 282,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,812. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.70 and a 12-month high of $135.57. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $109.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.08. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.98.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SKYW shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $126.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SkyWest news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total value of $3,017,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 404,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,990,720.98. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.83, for a total value of $233,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,796,883.71. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 138,186 shares of company stock valued at $15,434,918 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.