Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $547,000 Position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 97.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,264 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in SkyWest in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in SkyWest by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,023 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Price Performance

SkyWest stock opened at $112.34 on Thursday. SkyWest, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.32 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.98.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.57. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $979.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SKYW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, SkyWest presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In other news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.91, for a total transaction of $1,715,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 449,242 shares in the company, valued at $45,333,010.22. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 102,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,111,716.16. This represents a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,186 shares of company stock worth $11,022,798 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.