SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock Holdings Reduced by Nicholas Investment Partners LP

Nicholas Investment Partners LP cut its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,028 shares during the period. SkyWest accounts for about 1.1% of Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.31% of SkyWest worth $12,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SKYW. Barclays PLC grew its position in SkyWest by 563.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,002,000 after acquiring an additional 129,901 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth about $242,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $275,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in SkyWest by 172.3% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 29,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 18,520 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Stock Up 1.8%

SKYW opened at $103.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,267,563.01. This represents a 17.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Company Profile

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.