Wade Steel Sells 22,000 Shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock

Key Points

• SkyWest insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares at an average price of $111.44, generating approximately $2.45 million and reducing his position by 28.41%.
• SkyWest shares rose 0.9% to $115.94, near the upper end of their 52-week range. The company recently missed quarterly EPS and revenue expectations but reported 6.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The board authorized a $250 million share-repurchase program, while institutional investors own 81.3% of the stock. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $119.40.

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $2,451,680.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,178,010.72. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of SKYW stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 509,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,645. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.89 and a 52-week high of $123.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.46.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,184,956 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $118,981,000 after buying an additional 255,408 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in SkyWest by 90.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 351,149 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,333,000 after acquiring an additional 166,926 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,966,485 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $498,685,000 after purchasing an additional 152,863 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,825,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 498,590 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $50,063,000 after purchasing an additional 99,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SKYW. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $119.40.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc NASDAQ: SKYW is a regional airline holding company that provides air transportation services through its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines. The company operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with major carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. By specializing in regional connectivity, SkyWest links smaller communities to larger hubs using a fleet of regional jets and turboprop aircraft.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest oversees all aspects of its airline operations, including flight scheduling, crew training and aircraft maintenance.

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