Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Price

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $560.00 to $455.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Saia from $498.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Saia from $510.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Saia from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Saia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $524.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $486.83.

Saia Stock Down 6.0 %

NASDAQ:SAIA opened at $330.37 on Wednesday. Saia has a one year low of $287.50 and a one year high of $624.55. 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 company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $396.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $456.60.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.03). Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $789.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Saia’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Saia news, CFO Matthew J. Batteh sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.09, for a total value of $350,063.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 3,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,663,299.34. This trade represents a 17.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kelly W. Benton sold 460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,287 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,500. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,493 shares of company stock worth $4,646,181. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Saia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Saia in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Saia by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 60 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Saia in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Saia by 291.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 94 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Saia during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000.

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.