Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,527 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 13,986 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of SkyWest worth $16,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SKYW. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in SkyWest by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,296 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SkyWest during the fourth quarter valued at $313,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in SkyWest by 1,006.9% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,100 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 138.7% during the 4th quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 7,396 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James L. Welch sold 7,605 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $598,361.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,812,990.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other SkyWest news, Director James L. Welch sold 7,605 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $598,361.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,812,990.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James L. Welch sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,462 shares in the company, valued at $3,674,214.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TD Cowen lifted their target price on SkyWest from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.67.

SkyWest Price Performance

SkyWest stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.41. 339,375 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,167. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.91 and a 12-month high of $87.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.93. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14 and a beta of 1.95.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $867.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $826.56 million. SkyWest had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 5.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.