SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Insider Wade Steel Sells 22,000 Shares of Stock

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,178,010.72. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

SkyWest Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of SKYW opened at $115.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $96.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.89 and a twelve month high of $123.94.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in SkyWest by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 7.6% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 118.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 8.8% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 85,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,812,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

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.