SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SKYW. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $116.00 price objective on SkyWest in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised SkyWest from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of SkyWest from $123.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SkyWest currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.40.

SkyWest Trading Up 6.1%

Shares of SKYW stock opened at $82.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.87. SkyWest has a 12-month low of $77.68 and a 12-month high of $117.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.61.

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

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buy back $250 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SkyWest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in SkyWest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,530,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in SkyWest by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,529,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $232,260,000 after acquiring an additional 20,678 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in SkyWest by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 495,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,447,000 after acquiring an additional 138,155 shares during the last quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in SkyWest by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. now owns 326,332 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,967,000 after purchasing an additional 8,184 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,177,000. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

About SkyWest

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.