James L. Welch Sells 10,000 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock

Key Points

• James L. Welch, a director of SkyWest, Inc., sold 10,000 shares of the company stock at an average price of $116.09 for a total of $1,160,900, reducing his ownership by 26.51%.
• SkyWest reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.57, alongside a revenue of $1.04 billion.
• The company's board initiated a stock repurchase program allowing the buyback of up to $250 million in shares, indicating confidence in its undervalued stock.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total transaction of $1,160,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,217,666.53. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW traded down $1.94 during trading on Thursday, hitting $116.67. 207,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 404,667. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.98. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.09 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $107.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.12. 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 (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The business's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.

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