SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

SKYW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on SkyWest from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $132.00 price target on SkyWest in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded SkyWest from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.20.

SkyWest Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $98.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.86. SkyWest has a 1 year low of $74.70 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $104.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.53.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.25. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total transaction of $3,017,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,990,720.98. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total value of $1,160,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,217,666.53. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,412,120 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 0.4% in the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,920 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. GK Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in SkyWest by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 11,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% 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.