Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Sells 60,179 Shares of SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC cut its holdings in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 38.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 60,179 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.24% of SkyWest worth $8,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SKYW. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in SkyWest in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in SkyWest by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 3,308 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in SkyWest by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,763 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,338,000 after acquiring an additional 51,607 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in SkyWest by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 110,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,114,000 after acquiring an additional 17,332 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in SkyWest by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 11,610 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 2,970 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SKYW. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of SkyWest from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.75.

Insider Activity at SkyWest

In related news, insider Wade J. Steel sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.26, for a total transaction of $2,010,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,111,716.16. This trade represents a 14.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Eric Woodward sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.67, for a total transaction of $816,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,577,992.70. The trade was a 12.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,440,398 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKYW opened at $121.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.92. SkyWest, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.70 and a 1 year high of $135.57.

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

SkyWest declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.