Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $19.62 Million Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,971 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 39,835 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of SkyWest worth $19,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in SkyWest by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 147.4% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 4,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 0.9% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 11,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 478.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 567 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of SKYW stock opened at $105.96 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.41. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.70 and a twelve month high of $123.94.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.04). SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 10.56%.The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $993.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SKYW shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on SkyWest in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $122.00 target price on SkyWest in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on SkyWest from $132.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Meredith Siegfried Madden sold 4,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $503,401.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,067.48. This represents a 15.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest 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.