11,342 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 11,342 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in SkyWest by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 5,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in SkyWest by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,192 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in SkyWest by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 2.0% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SKYW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total transaction of $1,924,157.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 53,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,788,211.65. This trade represents a 24.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Wade Steel sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total value of $2,451,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,178,010.72. This represents a 28.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 115,226 shares of company stock valued at $12,855,192 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of SkyWest stock opened at $99.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.46. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.89 and a 1-year high of $122.15.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 9.78%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About SkyWest

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.