SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• SkyWest shares fell to a new 52-week low of $77.68, down from a previous close of $81.68.
• Analyst opinion is mixed but consensus remains Hold, with a $111.40 average price target; recent moves included a downgrade to Hold and a rating upgrade to Buy.
• Quarterly EPS of $3.08 slightly beat estimates, while revenue of $1.12 billion missed forecasts. The company also has authorization to repurchase up to $250 million of shares.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $77.68 and last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 597,902 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SKYW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $116.00 target price on SkyWest in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on SkyWest from $123.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.40.

SkyWest Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.62. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $96.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.05.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.07 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.51 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $250 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to purchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,530,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,529,333 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $232,260,000 after purchasing an additional 20,678 shares during the period. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. now owns 326,332 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $29,967,000 after purchasing an additional 8,184 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,177,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the second quarter worth approximately $24,254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc NASDAQ: SKYW is an airline holding company that operates regional passenger air service in the United States. Its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines, connects smaller and midsized communities with larger airline hubs and provides scheduled flights under capacity-purchase agreements with major airline partners.

SkyWest Airlines operates flights under the United Express, Delta Connection and Alaska Airlines brands, serving destinations throughout the United States and select locations in Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.