Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 56,369 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 503,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 56,369 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $46,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 32.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after buying an additional 18,926 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 7.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,960 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after buying an additional 1,781 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 125.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 167,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,383,000 after buying an additional 93,317 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 4.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments boosted its position in SkyWest by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 12,493 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SkyWest Trading Up 6.4%

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW opened at $110.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $92.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.45. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.89 and a 52-week high of $123.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. SkyWest’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SKYW. Citigroup upped their target price on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on SkyWest from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.40.

SkyWest Profile

SkyWest, Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) is a regional airline holding company that provides air transportation services through its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines. The company operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with major carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. By specializing in regional connectivity, SkyWest links smaller communities to larger hubs using a fleet of regional jets and turboprop aircraft.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest oversees all aspects of its airline operations, including flight scheduling, crew training and aircraft maintenance.