William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $15.30 Million Investment in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 154,041 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,301,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of SkyWest at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SkyWest by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in SkyWest by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,825 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SkyWest by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in SkyWest by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 85,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,812,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 25,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.49, for a total value of $2,762,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,375,231.98. This trade represents a 21.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 50,500 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.21, for a total value of $5,717,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 346,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,192,169.90. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 115,226 shares of company stock worth $12,855,192 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SKYW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SkyWest has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.40.

SkyWest Price Performance

SkyWest stock opened at $101.09 on Friday. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.89 and a 52-week high of $123.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $101.51 and its 200 day moving average is $95.67. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.46.

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

SkyWest announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SkyWest Profile

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.