StockNews.com Upgrades SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) to Buy

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

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

SkyWest Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of SKYW stock traded down $2.31 on Friday, reaching $98.34. 259,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,082. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $90.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57.

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

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 563.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,002,000 after buying an additional 129,901 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 9.1% in 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 valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 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.