Wade Steel Sells 22,000 Shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $2,451,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at $6,178,010.72. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SkyWest stock opened at $113.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.57. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $77.89 and a one year high of $123.94. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.46.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SKYW. TD Cowen increased their target price on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SkyWest

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the second quarter worth about $28,177,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the second quarter worth about $167,000. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,172,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter valued at about $426,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,106 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

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.