SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW Stock Holdings Lowered by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 90,444 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 20,551 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $7,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SKYW. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the first quarter worth about $37,474,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in SkyWest by 9,644.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,290,000 after buying an additional 150,550 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,839,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 243.9% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 176,573 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $15,427,000 after acquiring an additional 125,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bandera Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 138.1% in the first quarter. Bandera Partners LLC now owns 209,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,260,000 after acquiring an additional 121,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $126.75.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $109.32 on Friday. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $73.91 and a one year high of $135.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.06, for a total transaction of $3,017,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 404,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,990,720.98. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $2,018,667.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,392,436.82. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,440,398 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% 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.