2,936 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Purchased by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 543,009 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $54,371,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,338,000 after acquiring an additional 51,607 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,584,000 after acquiring an additional 57,547 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,984,000 after acquiring an additional 128,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 379,563 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,006,000 after acquiring an additional 22,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $2,018,667.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,392,436.82. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total value of $816,690.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,577,992.70. This represents a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,186 shares of company stock worth $11,022,798. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $109.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.55 and its 200-day moving average is $100.03. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $979.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.75.

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.