SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on SkyWest from $123.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $116.00 price target on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.40.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW stock opened at $82.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.17 and a 200-day moving average of $95.87. SkyWest has a 12-month low of $77.68 and a 12-month high of $117.72.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by $0.01. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SkyWest will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buy back $250 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP raised its stake in SkyWest by 2,309.7% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 6,988 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 6,698 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 495,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,447,000 after buying an additional 138,155 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in SkyWest in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 3rd quarter worth $334,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,507 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SkyWest Company Profile

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.