Denali Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 16,641 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SKYW. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 480.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in SkyWest by 273.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in SkyWest by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 50,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.21, for a total value of $5,717,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 346,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,192,169.90. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total value of $1,924,157.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 53,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,788,211.65. This trade represents a 24.95% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW opened at $102.42 on Thursday. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.89 and a fifty-two week high of $123.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.11 and a 200 day moving average of $95.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.46.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 9.78%.The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.