SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Trading Up 4.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• SkyWest's shares rose by 4.8% after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock's price target from $120 to $130, maintaining an 'outperform' rating.
• Multiple research analysts, including Raymond James and Wall Street Zen, have upgraded SkyWest's stock ratings, with a consensus price target currently set at $126.75.
• The company announced a stock buyback plan to repurchase $250 million in shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $130.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. SkyWest traded as high as $119.13 and last traded at $117.69. 223,757 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 409,466 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.30.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 1.2% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 15,244 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. SW Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 5.9% during the second quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 900,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $92,673,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 93.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 116,309 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,108,000 after buying an additional 56,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

SkyWest Trading Up 4.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $103.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.76.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $979.95 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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