Royce & Associates LP Grows Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 31.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,423 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,852 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,835 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in SkyWest by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SkyWest Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SKYW opened at $90.39 on Friday. SkyWest, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.61 and a twelve month high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 2.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.58.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SkyWest

In other SkyWest news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,267,563.01. The trade was a 17.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $681,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at $19,882,359.19. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $120.00) on shares of SkyWest in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.