SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) CEO Russell Childs Sells 50,500 Shares of Stock

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) CEO Russell Childs sold 50,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.21, for a total value of $5,717,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 346,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,192,169.90. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of SKYW stock opened at $108.26 on Friday. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.89 and a fifty-two week high of $123.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.69.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SKYW. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.40.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 273.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 118.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SkyWest

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.