Citigroup Inc. Lowers Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Citigroup Inc. reduced its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,032 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 41,236 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.07% of SkyWest worth $2,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 214.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 251,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,332,000 after acquiring an additional 171,704 shares in the last quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,856,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in SkyWest by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 298,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,011,000 after purchasing an additional 83,705 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in SkyWest by 40.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 255,251 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,283,000 after purchasing an additional 73,374 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,495,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 20,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.53, for a total value of $2,197,607.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 77,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,249,470.14. This trade represents a 21.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Meredith Siegfried Madden sold 4,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $503,401.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,067.48. The trade was a 15.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,725 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,834. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of SkyWest in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $122.00 target price on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of SkyWest from $132.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of SkyWest from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.83.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $92.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $101.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.55. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.70 and a 12-month high of $123.94.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $993.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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.