SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) gapped up before the market opened 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.24. SkyWest had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $912.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $896.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in SkyWest during the 1st quarter valued at about $520,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,275,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,448,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of SkyWest by 82.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 188,272 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,451,000 after acquiring an additional 85,356 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SkyWest in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $520,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SkyWest Trading Up 6.4 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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.