SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Hits New 12-Month High at $79.56

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $79.56 and last traded at $79.34, with a volume of 53608 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SKYW shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of SkyWest from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on SkyWest from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised SkyWest from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded SkyWest from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.25.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 1.89. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.21. SkyWest had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 5.45%. The company had revenue of $804.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $800.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.45) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total transaction of $1,156,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 116,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,000,114.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 32,286 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total value of $2,487,636.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 377,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,082,599.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total value of $1,156,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,000,114.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,286 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,576. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,448,283 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $180,002,000 after buying an additional 60,957 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in SkyWest by 40.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 923,722 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $38,741,000 after purchasing an additional 266,762 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SkyWest by 16.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 721,053 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,241,000 after purchasing an additional 101,459 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 424,239 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $22,145,000 after purchasing an additional 134,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 356,400 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $18,604,000 after purchasing an additional 6,126 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.