Martingale Asset Management L P Buys 3,042 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $1,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in SkyWest by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,505,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $131,572,000 after buying an additional 115,619 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in SkyWest by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 564,732 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,341,000 after buying an additional 21,723 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in SkyWest by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,338,000 after buying an additional 51,607 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,474,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in SkyWest by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 415,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,584,000 after buying an additional 57,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other news, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 17,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total transaction of $2,018,667.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 114,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,392,436.82. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.83, for a total transaction of $233,660.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,796,883.71. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 138,186 shares of company stock worth $15,434,918. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Stock Up 4.0%

SkyWest stock opened at $119.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.73. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.70 and a 52-week high of $135.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.98.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.