SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $95.20, but opened at $99.43. SkyWest shares last traded at $100.98, with a volume of 74,794 shares changing hands.

The transportation company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.24. SkyWest had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $912.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $896.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James lifted their price objective on SkyWest from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SkyWest has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of SkyWest by 2.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,252,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $184,855,000 after acquiring an additional 51,180 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in SkyWest by 16.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,151,578 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $94,510,000 after purchasing an additional 165,670 shares during the period. SW Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in SkyWest by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. SW Investment Management LLC now owns 600,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,242,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in SkyWest by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,225,000 after purchasing an additional 261,349 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in SkyWest by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 445,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,602,000 after purchasing an additional 96,830 shares during the period. 81.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SkyWest Stock Up 6.4 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.93.

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.