Insider Selling: SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) CEO Sells 26,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• SkyWest, Inc. CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares at an average price of $116.06, reducing his ownership by 6.03% and retaining approximately 404,883 shares valued at nearly $47 million.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue up 19.4% year-over-year to $1.04 billion.
• SkyWest's board has approved a $250 million share buyback plan, which indicates confidence in the company's stock value and aims to repurchase up to 6.4% of outstanding shares.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total transaction of $3,017,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 404,883 shares in the company, valued at $46,990,720.98. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.16. The company had a trading volume of 188,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,622. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.55 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.02. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.98. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%.SkyWest's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SkyWest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in SkyWest during the first quarter valued at $37,474,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 1,999.6% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,845,000 after buying an additional 150,711 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 9,644.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,111 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,290,000 after buying an additional 150,550 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the first quarter valued at approximately $12,839,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 243.9% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 176,573 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $15,427,000 after buying an additional 125,235 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SKYW. 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 note on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.