Clearbridge Investments LLC Takes Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 244,686 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,773,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SKYW. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 923,722 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,741,000 after acquiring an additional 266,762 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,134,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SkyWest by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 721,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,241,000 after buying an additional 101,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,689,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ SKYW traded up $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.05. The stock had a trading volume of 238,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,724. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09 and a beta of 1.89. SkyWest, Inc. has a one year low of $28.55 and a one year high of $79.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.90.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $804.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $800.07 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 5.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded SkyWest from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their target price on SkyWest from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet upgraded SkyWest from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on SkyWest from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, SkyWest has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.25.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 32,286 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $2,487,636.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 377,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,599.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other SkyWest news, Director James L. Welch sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 56,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,740,790.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 32,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $2,487,636.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 377,451 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,599.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,270 shares of company stock valued at $5,654,112. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest 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.