Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $443.00 to $529.00. The stock had previously closed at $495.70, but opened at $508.71. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Saia shares last traded at $497.59, with a volume of 16,070 shares trading hands.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SAIA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Saia from $499.00 to $566.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Saia from $525.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Saia from $612.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $527.65.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In related news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $627,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,270 shares in the company, valued at $4,631,200. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 127,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,286,000 after buying an additional 9,435 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Saia by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 613 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Saia by 813.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 29,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,647,000 after acquiring an additional 26,668 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Saia by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 7,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,230,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Saia by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter.

Saia Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $502.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.79.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.82 million. Saia had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 11.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Saia, Inc. will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saia Company Profile

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.