Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Position in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,186 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $5,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 8,952 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in SkyWest by 38.8% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 16,263 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in SkyWest by 2.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,966 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in SkyWest by 3.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in SkyWest by 5.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,037 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $108.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.89 and a 12 month high of $123.94.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.16). SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research 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 repurchase program on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 50,500 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 346,190 shares in the company, valued at $39,192,169.90. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on 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 given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SkyWest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.40.

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.