SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Director Sells $1,182,500.00 in Stock

Key Points

• James L. Welch, a director at SkyWest, Inc., sold 10,000 shares of stock for a total of $1,182,500.00, representing a 20.96% decrease in his position.
• SkyWest reported earnings of $2.91 EPS for the recent quarter, surpassing expectations of $2.34 EPS, with revenues up by 19.4% compared to the same period last year.
• The company has authorized a $250 million share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the value of its stock amid institutional holdings of 81.30%.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.25, for a total transaction of $1,182,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,035.25. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of SkyWest stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $115.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 305,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,107. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.88. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $104.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.03. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.73.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 38.4% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 551 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SKYW shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $126.75.

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.

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