U S Global Investors Inc. Decreases Stake in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)

U S Global Investors Inc. reduced its position in SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 302,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 98,820 shares during the period. SkyWest comprises approximately 3.0% of U S Global Investors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings in SkyWest were worth $30,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in SkyWest by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,835 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in SkyWest by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SkyWest by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of SkyWest by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SKYW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SkyWest in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $120.00) on shares of SkyWest in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on SkyWest from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Greg Wooley sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.73, for a total transaction of $1,537,842.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 68,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,267,563.01. The trade was a 17.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Simmons sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $681,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 175,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,882,359.19. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

SkyWest Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of SkyWest stock opened at $97.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.32 and a 200 day moving average of $98.07. SkyWest, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.09 and a fifty-two week high of $135.57.

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.59. SkyWest had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 14.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SkyWest, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SkyWest Company Profile

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.