MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of SkyWest worth $2,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,002,000. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in SkyWest by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $100,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth $2,023,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SKYW shares. StockNews.com lowered SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total value of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 175,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,882,359.19. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW opened at $87.92 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.83. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.61 and a 1 year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The company had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. Sell-side analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.