Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires New Holdings in SkyWest, Inc. $SKYW

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 480.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 261 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SkyWest by 273.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in SkyWest in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SkyWest by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Stock Performance

Shares of SKYW opened at $94.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.45. SkyWest, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.89 and a 12 month high of $123.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.70 by ($0.16). SkyWest had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that SkyWest, Inc. will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to repurchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Russell A. Childs sold 50,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.21, for a total transaction of $5,717,105.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 346,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,192,169.90. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Greg Wooley sold 17,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.55, for a total value of $1,924,157.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 53,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,788,211.65. This represents a 24.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 115,226 shares of company stock worth $12,855,192 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SKYW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on SkyWest from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered SkyWest from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $126.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised SkyWest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on SkyWest from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.00.

SkyWest Profile

SkyWest, Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) is a regional airline holding company that provides air transportation services through its primary subsidiary, SkyWest Airlines. The company operates flights under capacity purchase agreements with major carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. By specializing in regional connectivity, SkyWest links smaller communities to larger hubs using a fleet of regional jets and turboprop aircraft.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest oversees all aspects of its airline operations, including flight scheduling, crew training and aircraft maintenance.