Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $18.41 Million Stock Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW - Free Report) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,574 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 18,047 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.54% of SkyWest worth $18,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SKYW. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of SkyWest from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on SkyWest from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.75.

SkyWest Price Performance

SKYW stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.33. The stock had a trading volume of 316,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,282. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.71 and a 52 week high of $116.47.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 11.02% and a net margin of 7.29%. The business had revenue of $912.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $896.21 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. SkyWest's revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 27,903 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $3,110,347.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 349,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,964,115.56. The trade was a 7.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 92,467 shares of company stock valued at $10,082,596. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.