SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.1667.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SKYW. Citigroup started coverage on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Zacks Research downgraded SkyWest from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Activity

In other SkyWest news, Director Meredith Siegfried Madden sold 4,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $503,401.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,067.48. This represents a 15.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,612,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $162,209,000 after acquiring an additional 46,744 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,009,759 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $103,992,000 after purchasing an additional 19,521 shares during the last quarter. SW Investment Management LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 5.9% in the second quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 900,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $92,673,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in SkyWest by 1.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 573,074 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,009,000 after purchasing an additional 8,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in SkyWest by 1.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 548,682 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,208,000 after buying an additional 7,862 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $100.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. SkyWest has a 52 week low of $74.70 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.60.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.25. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 17.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.