SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Raymond James Analyst Says

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Raymond James from $100.00 to $114.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the transportation company's stock. Raymond James' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.50% from the company's previous close.

SkyWest Stock Performance

SKYW traded up $6.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.33. 691,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 405,734. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $84.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 1.95. SkyWest has a 1-year low of $41.96 and a 1-year high of $103.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.24. SkyWest had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 5.55%. The company had revenue of $912.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $896.21 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. SkyWest's quarterly revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SkyWest will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SkyWest by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,060 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $45,225,000 after acquiring an additional 261,349 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 16.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,151,578 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $94,510,000 after purchasing an additional 165,670 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in SkyWest by 27.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 445,990 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $36,602,000 after purchasing an additional 96,830 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of SkyWest by 82.9% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 188,272 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,451,000 after buying an additional 85,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SW Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 600,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,242,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company's stock.

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.