Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $526.39.

SAIA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Saia from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Saia from $565.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Saia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $524.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Saia in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In other Saia news, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total value of $3,671,619.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,599,114.30. The trade was a 29.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Kelly W. Benton sold 460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,287 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,500. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,493 shares of company stock worth $4,646,181 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Saia in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,408,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in Saia during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,324,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Saia during the fourth quarter worth about $3,363,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Saia by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 226,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $103,057,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Saia by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SAIA opened at $352.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $443.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.45. Saia has a 1-year low of $342.68 and a 1-year high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $789.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.69 million. Saia had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Saia will post 15.46 EPS for the current year.

About Saia

Saia, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services.