SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• SkyWest's stock rating was dropped from "strong-buy" to "hold" by Zacks Research, reflecting a cautious outlook from analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, the company has an average rating of "Buy" among analysts, with a consensus price target of $126.75.
• SkyWest reported a 19.4% year-over-year increase in revenue for its latest quarter, totaling $1.04 billion, and earnings per share beat expectations at $2.91.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

SKYW has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of SkyWest stock opened at $99.24 on Monday. SkyWest has a 1 year low of $74.70 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.59.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $979.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. SkyWest's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,392,436.82. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total transaction of $1,160,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,217,666.53. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,440,398 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 1,075.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 60,181 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 55,062 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,322 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at $1,007,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,497 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 15,239 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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