SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Price Target Raised to $140.00 at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• SkyWest's stock price target has been raised to $140.00 by Raymond James Financial, indicating a potential upside of 24.22% from its current price.
• SkyWest reported earnings of $2.91 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with a 19.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a $250 million stock buyback program, which reflects confidence in its valuation from the Board of Directors.
• Insiders have recently sold shares, with a total of 49,000 shares worth nearly $5 million sold in the last quarter, representing a notable decrease in ownership among executives.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the transportation company's stock. Raymond James Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 24.67% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SKYW. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of SkyWest from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $124.25.

SkyWest Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SKYW stock traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.30. The company had a trading volume of 993,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.66. SkyWest has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.98 and a 200 day moving average of $99.83.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 17.01% and a net margin of 10.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors 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 buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 449,242 shares in the company, valued at $45,333,010.22. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.75, for a total transaction of $1,763,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 131,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,612,311.25. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,994,520. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 185.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,117 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 5,275 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 5.8% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,742 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 15,244 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. SW Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 900,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $92,673,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 93.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 116,309 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,108,000 after acquiring an additional 56,128 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.