Raymond James Reaffirms Outperform Rating for SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Raymond James reissued their outperform rating on shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $130.00 price target on the transportation company's stock, up from their prior price target of $120.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on SkyWest from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.75.

SkyWest Stock Up 0.7 %

SKYW traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.96. The company had a trading volume of 380,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,668. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.76. SkyWest has a 1-year low of $57.15 and a 1-year high of $135.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $108.91 and a 200-day moving average of $94.34.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.59. SkyWest had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 9.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SkyWest will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other SkyWest news, Director Ronald J. Mittelstaedt sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total transaction of $2,801,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,264,372.98. The trade was a 68.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $446,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,954,831.78. This trade represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,903 shares of company stock worth $6,357,967 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SkyWest

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 1,368.0% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 367 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in SkyWest by 47.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,180 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SkyWest

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.