Phocas Financial Corp. Lowers Stock Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its stake in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 183,159 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 43,226 shares during the period. SkyWest accounts for about 2.4% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.45% of SkyWest worth $18,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 563.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 152,940 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,002,000 after acquiring an additional 129,901 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in SkyWest by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the fourth quarter worth $275,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 172.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 29,268 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 18,520 shares during the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SkyWest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW opened at $97.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.61 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.79.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.38. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The firm had revenue of $948.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded SkyWest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $119.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on SkyWest from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.