SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

SKYW has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James dropped their price target on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

SkyWest Price Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $94.39 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $88.17 and its 200 day moving average is $100.76. SkyWest has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at $19,882,359.19. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,935,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in SkyWest by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,390,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $139,211,000 after purchasing an additional 97,108 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in SkyWest by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,028,000 after purchasing an additional 26,561 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $54,371,000 after buying an additional 21,637 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 525,722 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,641,000 after buying an additional 192,543 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

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.