Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $2.91 Million Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $2,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in SkyWest by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 14,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Price Performance

SkyWest stock opened at $101.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.99. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.88.

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on SKYW shares. StockNews.com upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price 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 Transactions at SkyWest

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,267,563.01. This trade represents a 17.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.