SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SKYW. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.8%

SkyWest stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $101.85. The stock had a trading volume of 208,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,611. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.11. SkyWest 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 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to buy 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total value of $1,537,842.85. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. The trade was a 17.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 563.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 129,901 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 9.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 216,574 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $18,413,000 after buying an additional 18,047 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,180 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 13,116 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.