Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Trading Up 4.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s share price rose 4.3% on Wednesday after Stephens raised their price target on the stock from $481.00 to $515.00. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Saia traded as high as $499.30 and last traded at $497.29. Approximately 31,751 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 388,175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $476.99.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SAIA. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Saia in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Saia from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Saia from $575.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Saia from $416.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Saia from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $492.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Saia by 161.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 68 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Saia in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Saia in the second quarter valued at $41,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Saia in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Saia by 754.5% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 94 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period.

Saia Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $426.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $433.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.74.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 11.83%. The company had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Saia, Inc. will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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.