SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $132.00 target price on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.17.

SkyWest Trading Down 1.6%

SKYW opened at $101.90 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.63. SkyWest has a fifty-two week low of $74.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.25. SkyWest had a return on equity of 17.14% and a net margin of 10.92%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. SkyWest’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Meredith Siegfried Madden sold 4,725 shares of the company’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 owned 25,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,067.48. This represents a 15.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in SkyWest in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in SkyWest by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 551 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SkyWest Company Profile

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.