SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $121.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SKYW. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total transaction of $1,924,157.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 53,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,788,211.65. The trade was a 24.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $2,451,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at $6,178,010.72. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,226 shares of company stock valued at $12,855,192. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 480.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in SkyWest during the second quarter worth about $57,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in SkyWest during the second quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest during the second quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Trading Down 1.5%

SKYW stock opened at $95.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $102.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.67. SkyWest has a fifty-two week low of $77.89 and a fifty-two week high of $117.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 9.78%.SkyWest’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. Analysts expect that SkyWest will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc is a regional airline holding company headquartered in St. George, Utah. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides scheduled passenger air service for major U.S. airline partners, connecting smaller communities with larger hub airports.

SkyWest Airlines operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Its fleet primarily consists of regional aircraft, including Embraer E175 and Bombardier CRJ models, and serves destinations throughout the United States as well as selected locations in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

SkyWest also operates SkyWest Charter, which provides public charter air transportation.