Shares of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW – Get Rating) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $21.89, but opened at $18.70. SkyWest shares last traded at $17.96, with a volume of 99,367 shares trading hands.
The transportation company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $681.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $753.96 million. SkyWest had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 5.35%. SkyWest’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 EPS.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have commented on SKYW. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on SkyWest in a report on Friday, December 16th. They set a “sell” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on SkyWest from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 20th. TheStreet cut SkyWest from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 16th. Cowen lowered their price objective on SkyWest to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on SkyWest in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SkyWest currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.60.
Institutional Trading of SkyWest
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in SkyWest by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 68,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 35,867 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new stake in SkyWest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $344,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in SkyWest by 100.3% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 10,083 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of SkyWest in the third quarter valued at approximately $245,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
SkyWest Stock Down 17.5 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.20. The company has a market cap of $913.84 million, a P/E ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.82.
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.