Short Interest in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Expands By 25.4%

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the October 31st total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 341,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

SkyWest Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SKYW stock opened at $114.74 on Monday. SkyWest has a fifty-two week low of $45.99 and a fifty-two week high of $117.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.93.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.24. SkyWest had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $912.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $896.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. SkyWest’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SkyWest will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted 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 restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of SkyWest from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 27,903 shares of SkyWest stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $3,110,347.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 349,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,964,115.56. This trade represents a 7.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,426 shares in the company, valued at $4,954,831.78. The trade was a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,467 shares of company stock worth $10,082,596. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SkyWest

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in SkyWest by 1,368.0% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in SkyWest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 57.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 766 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.