BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Decreases Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. by 95.2%, now owning only 961 shares after selling 19,031 shares in the first quarter.
• Several other investors, including Bandera Partners LLC and Algert Global LLC, significantly increased their stakes in SkyWest, with Algert Global raising its stake by 501.4%.
• SkyWest's latest earnings reported EPS of $2.91, exceeding analysts' estimates and reflecting a 19.4% year-over-year revenue growth.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S trimmed its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 95.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 961 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 19,031 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in SkyWest were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of 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 lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 83.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,274 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 404,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,990,720.98. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total transaction of $816,690.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,577,992.70. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,186 shares of company stock valued at $12,204,148 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $121.40. The stock had a trading volume of 232,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,929. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.73. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.70 and a 12-month high of $135.57.

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. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.