SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $119.36 and last traded at $117.15, with a volume of 136873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of SkyWest from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.25.

SkyWest Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.86.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $912.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $896.21 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 16,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total transaction of $1,731,254.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 113,539 shares in the company, valued at $11,923,865.78. This represents a 12.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 19,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $1,993,373.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,654 shares in the company, valued at $10,202,889.92. The trade was a 16.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,467 shares of company stock worth $10,082,596. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,739 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $81,697,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SkyWest by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,051,000 after acquiring an additional 76,007 shares in the last quarter. SW Investment Management LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 600,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,242,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 484,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,162,000 after buying an additional 143,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 445,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,602,000 after purchasing an additional 96,830 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.