SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Trading 6% Higher After Earnings Beat

Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) were up 6% on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $78.79 and last traded at $77.50. Approximately 101,278 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $800.07 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 1.59% and a net margin of 1.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.45) EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James L. Welch sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $133,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,740,790.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 40.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 923,722 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,741,000 after buying an additional 266,762 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SkyWest by 5,203.4% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 256,631 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,763,000 after acquiring an additional 251,792 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,773,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,134,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 424,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,145,000 after purchasing an additional 134,066 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Trading Up 0.7 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.67 and a beta of 1.95.

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.