Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 74,892 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,439,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in SkyWest by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter worth $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 273.6% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 118.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 50,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.21, for a total value of $5,717,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 346,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,192,169.90. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at $6,178,010.72. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 115,226 shares of company stock worth $12,855,192 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.00.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $94.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.42. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.89 and a 52 week high of $123.67.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.