SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Raised to "Outperform" at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $120.00 price target on the transportation company's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $120.50.

SkyWest Stock Performance

NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,279. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The business's fifty day moving average price is $98.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.90.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 15.41%. SkyWest's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 131,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,612,311.25. The trade was 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 at this link. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 449,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,994,520. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of SkyWest by 157.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 491 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

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.