James L. Welch Sells 10,000 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) 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 transaction, the director owned 37,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,460,035.25. This trade represents a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $109.01. 78,469 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 410,942. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.61 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $105.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest during the first quarter valued at $32,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position 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 buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

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.