Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SAIA. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Saia in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Cowen raised their price objective on Saia from $229.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Saia from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Saia from $232.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Saia from $242.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $286.82.

Saia Stock Performance

Shares of Saia stock opened at $267.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Saia has a 12 month low of $168.03 and a 12 month high of $306.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $269.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.43.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $655.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $652.12 million. Saia had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 24.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Saia will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,233 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.93, for a total transaction of $361,182.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,066,621.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 980 shares of Saia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total transaction of $287,659.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,603,317.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,233 shares of Saia stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.93, for a total value of $361,182.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,066,621.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,137,223 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its position in Saia by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,631 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Saia by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Saia by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 506 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Saia by 6.0% in the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HMS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Saia by 4.0% in the third quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Company Profile

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Saia, Inc operates as a transportation holding company. The firm through its wholly-owned subsidiaries provides regional and interregional less-than-truckload (LTL) services through a single integrated organization. The firm also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited and logistics services across North America.