SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Separately, Raymond James reduced their target price on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW stock opened at $80.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.92 and a 200-day moving average of $100.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 2.00. SkyWest has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.59. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. The trade was a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in SkyWest by 83.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,274 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $3,574,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth $318,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in SkyWest by 297.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 18,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 14,089 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% 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.