SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $77.68 and last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 597,902 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $81.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $116.00 target price on SkyWest in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on SkyWest from $123.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.40.

SkyWest Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.05.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $0.01. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $250 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $682,530,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,529,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,260,000 after purchasing an additional 20,678 shares in the last quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. now owns 326,332 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,967,000 after buying an additional 8,184 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in SkyWest during the second quarter worth approximately $28,177,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,254,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) is an airline holding company that operates regional passenger air service in the United States. Its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines, connects smaller and midsized communities with larger airline hubs and provides scheduled flights under capacity-purchase agreements with major airline partners.

SkyWest Airlines operates flights under the United Express, Delta Connection and Alaska Airlines brands, serving destinations throughout the United States and select locations in Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.