Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $3.69 Million Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,820 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,824 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned 0.09% of SkyWest worth $3,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in SkyWest by 1,999.6% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 158,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,845,000 after buying an additional 150,711 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP lifted its stake in SkyWest by 825.4% in the 4th quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 26,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 23,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of SkyWest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $837,000. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $99.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.13 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SKYW has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. This represents a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at $19,882,359.19. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.