SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $130.20.

A number of research firms have recently commented on SKYW. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on SkyWest from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial upgraded SkyWest from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded SkyWest from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $132.00 price objective on SkyWest in a report on Friday, October 31st.

SkyWest Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of SkyWest stock opened at $95.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. SkyWest has a 12-month low of $74.70 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.86.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. SkyWest had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 16.69%. SkyWest’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that SkyWest will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SkyWest

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of SkyWest during the 1st quarter worth $37,474,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in SkyWest by 214.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 251,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,332,000 after purchasing an additional 171,704 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SkyWest by 90.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 351,149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,333,000 after purchasing an additional 166,926 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth about $12,839,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 243.9% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 176,573 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,427,000 after purchasing an additional 125,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.30% 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.