SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating. Other analysts, including TD Cowen and Cantor Fitzgerald, set price targets at $132.00. SkyWest's stock rose 3.9% to $98.73, with a market cap of $3.96 billion. The company reported $2.81 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates. Insider trading included significant share sales by Director James L. Welch and VP Greg Wooley. Hedge funds have also increased their stakes in SkyWest recently.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

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Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SKYW. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $132.00 price target on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded SkyWest from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded SkyWest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $130.20.

View Our Latest Research Report on SkyWest

SkyWest Stock Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:SKYW opened at $98.73 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $104.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. SkyWest has a 1-year low of $74.70 and a 1-year high of $135.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.86.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. SkyWest had a return on equity of 16.69% and a net margin of 10.62%.SkyWest's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SkyWest will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James L. Welch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.09, for a total value of $1,160,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,217,666.53. This represents a 26.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 2,000 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,796,883.71. The trade was a 2.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,412,120 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SkyWest

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,235 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc boosted its stake in SkyWest by 12.1% during the third quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 2,659 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 10.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,280 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,254,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 214.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 251,760 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,332,000 after acquiring an additional 171,704 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,848 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

About SkyWest

(Get Free Report)

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.

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