SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,556 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 44,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.80% of SkyWest worth $29,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in SkyWest by 32.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 18,926 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in SkyWest by 7.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,960 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in SkyWest by 125.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 167,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,383,000 after purchasing an additional 93,317 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in SkyWest by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

SkyWest Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $113.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.45. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.89 and a 1-year high of $123.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.16). The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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

SkyWest Company Profile

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.