SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Price Target Raised to $130.00 at Evercore ISI

Key Points

• SkyWest's target price has been raised by Evercore ISI from $120.00 to $130.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.76% from its current price, and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• SkyWest reported a quarterly EPS of $2.91, exceeding the expected $2.34, with revenue up 19.4% year-over-year at $1.04 billion.
• The company has announced a stock buyback plan of $250 million, allowing it to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $120.00 to $130.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the transportation company's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.76% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SKYW. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

SkyWest Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW opened at $112.30 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.88. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $103.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.76.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.75, for a total value of $1,763,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 131,203 shares in the company, valued at $13,612,311.25. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $1,515,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,063,404.32. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,000 shares of company stock worth $4,994,520. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,474,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,851,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $52,641,000 after acquiring an additional 192,543 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 1,999.6% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,845,000 after acquiring an additional 150,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 9,644.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,111 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,290,000 after acquiring an additional 150,550 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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