SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Up 6% After Strong Earnings

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)’s share price shot up 6% during mid-day trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $78.79 and last traded at $77.50. 101,278 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 475,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.14.

The transportation company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $804.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $800.07 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 5.46%. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.45) EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SKYW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of SkyWest from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.25.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In related news, Director James L. Welch sold 2,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $133,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,740,790.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 13,737.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,214 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC increased its position in SkyWest by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at about $540,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the 4th quarter valued at about $313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.7 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59 and a beta of 1.95.

About SkyWest

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.