2,398 Shares in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Purchased by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in SkyWest by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in SkyWest by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in SkyWest by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Trading Down 1.5%

SkyWest stock opened at $102.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.88. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $948.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. SkyWest’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. The trade was a 17.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

SkyWest 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.