SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The company traded as low as $77.68 and last traded at $77.70, with a volume of 597,902 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $81.68.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SKYW. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $116.00 price objective on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of SkyWest from $123.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SkyWest has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in SkyWest during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 78.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the second quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in SkyWest in the third quarter worth about $71,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Trading Down 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.61.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 9.70%. SkyWest’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $250 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SkyWest Company Profile

SkyWest, Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) is an airline holding company that operates regional passenger air service in the United States. Its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines, connects smaller and midsized communities with larger airline hubs and provides scheduled flights under capacity-purchase agreements with major airline partners.

SkyWest Airlines operates flights under the United Express, Delta Connection and Alaska Airlines brands, serving destinations throughout the United States and select locations in Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.