Rhumbline Advisers Trims Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,283 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.27% of SkyWest worth $9,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in SkyWest by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in SkyWest by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 16,057 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,063,404.32. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 449,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,333,010.22. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,000 shares of company stock worth $4,994,520. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Stock Down 0.3%

SKYW opened at $102.95 on Tuesday. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.17. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.90.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

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.