Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $3.11 Million Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of SkyWest worth $3,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SKYW. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at $190,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in SkyWest by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 36,640 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in SkyWest by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 21,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 12,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in SkyWest by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 379,563 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,006,000 after purchasing an additional 22,053 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $126.75.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $116.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.61 and a 200-day moving average of $99.92. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 15,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $1,515,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,404.32. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 449,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,994,520. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.